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TREATISE 



MULBERRY TREE 



SILKWORM. 



AND ON THE 



PRODUCTION AND MANUFACTURE OF SILK. 



EMBELLISHED ,^FITH APPROPRIATE ENGRAVINGS. 



SUPERINTENDENT OP THE 



BY JOHN CLARKEf V 




MORODENDRON SILK COM^A*gj"g» OP* B HI 

© 



Look to the Silk Culture for the true Gold Mines of theVWffifced 
Independence, Wealth, and PowerVf |^~ 




PHILADELPHIA : 
THOMAS, COWPERTHWAIT & CO. 

253 MARKET STREET. 



; 



183 9. 






Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1839, by 

John Clarke, 

in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. 



PRINTED BY T. K. AND P. G. COLLINS. 
STEREOTYPED BY L. JOHNSON PHILADELPHIA. 



PREFACE 



" Not to know what occurred before one was born, is to be," said an 
ancient writer, " always a child." Knowledge, indeed, is that to which, 
as a means, we owe our all. And whatever we shall, or shall not, be or 
possess hereafter, will be measured by knowledge, or the want of it ; or by 
our diligent use or neglect of it. Knowledge, in short, should be hailed, 
invited, as our best friend ; whilst its reverse, ignorance, our worst, if not 
our only enemy, should be scouted, were it possible, from the very face of 
an earth tenanted by man, by all that aspire to the dignity of the intel- 
lectual character. On knowledge, or on the want of it, how often has 
depended whether whole nations shall be civilized or uncivilized, as well 
as learned or unlearned; whether whole kingdoms shall slumber for 
centuries in comparative barbarism, as well as whether the myriads of 
individuals composing them shall spend their existence in prosperity and 
peace, or be immured in wretchedness, to bequeath it, as an entail, to 
their posterity after them. 

A Providence, kind and paternal, however, deserts not man, unless he 
neglect himself. The inventive faculty is given to him. " Necessity," 
it is commonly said, " is the mother of invention ;" but with all deference 
to her maternal powers, it may be added, that they would be unproductive, 
were it not for the astonishing and yet undeveloped powers of mind. 
The history of mind, could it be well composed — and of its inventions 
and discoveries, for five thousand years, in the arts, in science, in manu- 
factures, in implements, in machinery, and in productions of every kind, 
sweeping in its universe of evolutions, the two empires of material and 
immaterial being — would present at once the most interesting and im- 
portant detail of the great and mystic movements of what the same Pro- 
vidence has placed here, on this earth, to be the sovereign of matter. 
We repeat it, Mind is the sovereign of matter ! Matter, it is true, in 
all forms, is created from age to age, ready to our hands, by the same 
Paternal energy ; but it is left to the empire of instinct and reason, or 
of mind, through all its divisions of power, to move, change, transform, 
metamorphose it into other forms, substances, shapes, and modifications, 
so dissimilar, that the crude ore of the mountain becomes the spangling 
specie of the bank ; the fleece of an animal, the clothing of man ; the 
cotton of a vegetable, the calico, the muslin of the store ; and the leaf of 
the mulberry tree, the velvet cushion of the throne, or the robes that 
embellish the persons of emperors and of queens, 

3 



4 PREFACE. 

Such is mind ! It reigns supreme : its sway " there is none to dis- 
pute." On the throne of instinct, reason, it sits : it waves the hand ; 
onward is the march, the great triumphal march of mind ; and imme- 
diately a host of satellites — for such there must be in the rear of every 
sovereign — are in motion ; writers, authors, copyists, compilers, histo- 
rians, are pushing after it, in the orbit of intellect, "with all the speed and 
splendour that can be given by essays, histories, digests, encyclopaedias, 
periodicals and manuals ; and such has been the rapidity of late, that 
even the press, with all its additional powers of type and stereotype, 
travels not with sufficient velocity, unless it move by steam ! What is 
the cause of all this 1 Mind, the sovereign of matter, in the march of 
intellect : it approaches, probably, the perihelion : onward it must go, and 
our business is to follow ; which, if we do, though it cannot, will not 
stop, it will look back to bless us, and will whisper peace and prosperity 
to us as a nation, and to each of us as individuals. 

Our peace, our fortune, or our happiness is made, if we follow Mind ! 
How is this to be done 1 History presents us with an eminence, on 
whose height we view, in a long and extended vista, a series of inven- 
tions counted by the thousand years, each of which has blessed mankind. 
On one side we see a nation deprived of their benefit, for ages slumber- 
ing in obscurity, in barbarism, and in wretchedness ; there another that 
has embraced a gift, that seems to have dropped from the skies, whose 
history demonstrates to the world, more satisfactorily than the problem 
which cost the hecatomb, that " knowledge is power " to which we add, 
that knowledge not only is power, hut, knowledge rightly used, is wealth 
and happiness. 

Knowledge has visited the American people. Volumes are in her 
hands ; her finger first points to this page, then to that. Are we attentive ] 
On this page we see, in prominent characters, the word China ! and in 
alto-relievo the word Silk ! and by attention we are enabled to decipher 
the words " China, in silk, an example to America." We pause ; we 
reflect : in these words we see a volume ; we have caught the idea ! that 
idea is a world ! And a volume we could write, and a new world, a new 
era, we could speak of; but these pages, the.se limits, refuse a safety-valve 
to the engine, to thought ; -the power we must diminish, and reserve for 
another time. Knowledge perceives that the subject is too great for our 
utterance ; she waves her sceptre, changes the page, and turns to 
another, on the head of which we distinctly see the word Cotton. 

Some time ago we visited the South, and lodged in this hotel, and 
then in that ; but wherever we abode, no word heard we so frequently 
as the word " Cotton /" Cotton was said, and cotton was responded, 
and cotton was echoed; neither did we understand the mysteries of echo 
until we understood the sympathies of cotton. Not being gifted with a 
musical ear, we were perplexed to discover the melody of the word 
cotton, until a friend kindly hinted, it was the music of the pocket ! 
The secret now was out, the enigma solved ; and ever since, we dis- 
tinctly perceived, that cotton was music to the pockets of the people of 
the South. 

Two great staples of the United States of North America are now in 
our diorama — Cotton and Silk ; but which is to become the greater, is 
the question. No less true is it, that all men are not born prophets, 



PREFACE. 5 

than that the souls of all men are not integral quantities ; and of these, 
the progenitors it was, that, sixty years ago, laughed at cotton becoming 
a staple of this country. But these fractional quantities we let alone : 
it is with integral characters only that we are concerned ; with men 
capable of comprehending distinctly, not merely a part, but a whole 
subject. And these are they who proclaim that of the two, cotton or 
silk, the latter eventually is to become the greater, the more important 
staple of this country. 

It is easy to form a cursory estimate of the immense benefit 
which the production and manufacture of cotton and its fabrics have 
been to this country. Great, however, as this is, we hesitate not to 
anticipate that silk will be — if the people, the government, the whole 
commonwealth, only evince enterprise and zeal commensurate to the 
object, as a staple — not inferior to cotton. The growth of the latter 
article is confined to the southern states ; whereas every state of the 
Union is eligible for the production of silk. For silk as well as for 
cotton, independently of our own consumption, foreign markets are 
ready to afford the most ample encouragement. Of the raw material, 
France is under the necessity of importing more than one-third of her 
vast consumption in her manufactures; and England must import 
every ounce. These two kingdoms only offer a market to the value of 
$40,000,000 annually. We shall add to this the singular consideration, 
that for years past, this country has been in the habit of importing raw 
and manufactured silks, at the rate of §1*40 for every individual in its 
population, which evidently implies an ulterior amount of indefinite 
magnitude. For raw and manufactured silks upwards of §25,000,000 
were sent abroad in the year 1836 ; equivalent to an annual drain of 
specie to that amount. We have then at once before us a market for 
silk, to the extent of $65,000,000 annually. 

China, however, which may afford a valuable lesson at once in 
politics and political economy, surpasses this. There, every artisan is 
capacitated and encouraged to be a consumer as well as a producer. 
Thus her home trade is supported ; and it is thus she becomes inde- 
pendent. Were only all the white females above the age of fifteen, of 
the United States, to encourage our home trade to the extent of one silk 
dress annually, it would produce an additional market of the annual 
amount of $66,150,000. By this means, or by others, at least, added 
to the preceding quotation of $65,000,000 annually, we see no limits 
necessarily restraining the extent of the silk market short of $100,000,000 
per annum. And with all our exertions, it will be years before this 
demand is satisfied, and the check given to the serious drain of specie 
out of the country, to purchase of foreigners what we can produce at home. 

On the subject of specie, banks, hard coin, cash payments, mines, and 
Mexico, we have read essays, lectures, pamphlets, and volumes, without 
number. But how much more simple is the course we prescribe! Only 
set the silk worm to work ; stop the enormous drain of specie abroad, by 
producing all at home ; and we effect at once more than all the mines, 
more than all the ponderous tomes, whether extended by sheet or counted 
by volume, though they should reach from pole to pole, could accomplish 
in a century. The next lecture we intend to hear on the mystery of 
banking, mines, specie, and hard cash, shall be given by the silk worm. 

1* 



6 PREFACE. 

Only produce, and hard cash will come as surely as the sun will cross 
the equinoctial twice in each year. 

Individual and national benefit are evidently here combined. But in 
recommending the culture of silk, there is another feature which we 
scarcely can omit ; it is that of benevolence. It promises good-will to 
our fellow-men, from one end of the nation to the other. To the benefit 
of a leaf-market to towns and densely populated cities, we have in the 
ensuing work briefly adverted. But whether silk is cultivated in the 
country or town, the same beneficial consequences will attend it. The 
process, in an otherwise unemployed season of the year, may be con- 
ducted by females, children, and old or invalid men, unable to perform 
hard labour; and therefore to them, and to others, especially if we 
include the more extended business of reeling, it will be a new means 
of employment, industry, and gain, without interference with other 
sources of income. This feature alone, were there no other, is sufficient 
to warrant our warm advocacy of the culture. In short, on this as well 
as on every other point in which it presents itself to our notice, we could 
expatiate by the volume, whilst our limits restrict us to the line. 
Through several years of close attention to this subject, we have long 
perceived its individual, its political, its national importance ; to which 
the numberless volumes, guides, and manuals, already existing on this 
topic, we have at the same time been deeply sensible, were not singly at 
least, commensurate, nor in every respect suited to the wants and exi- 
gencies of the young and comparatively inexperienced culturist. This 
desideratum we have endeavoured to supply, not only from our own 
experience, but from a larger collection of European and American 
works on the culture than is perhaps possessed by any other individual 
in the United States. Our work is now before the tribunal of the 
public. Of its comparative merits they may judge; but a conviction 
of our motives, and endeavours to serve all, is unalterably fixed in our 
own conscience ; and its accomplishment of the purpose, in any degree* 
for which it was originally intended, is all the praise, if any, that we 
shall ever desire. To extend the work to comprise not only the pro- 
duction, but the whole of the manufacturing processes of silk, was our 
intention ; but the numerous volumes we have since received, especially 
from Europe, and the large amount of plates relative to machinery, an 
explanation, at least to do justice to this important branch of national 
industry, would require, convinced us of the impracticability^ of fulfilling 
our original design short of the limits of a second volume, now in the 
course of preparation ; and for its completion we, very respectfully, at 
present, beg leave to retire. 



CONTENTS 



PART I. 
CHAPTER I. 



Page 

History of the Culture and Manufacture of Silk - 13 

Preliminary Remarks on the Origin of the Silk Culture in China ib. 

CHAPTER II. 

History of Silk to the Period when Silk Worms were first 

introduced into europe - - - - 31 

CHAPTER III. 

Subsequent History of Silk - - - - 49 
From the Period when Silk Worms were first introduced into 

Europe, continued to each Nation distinctly - - ib. 

Arabs, Tartars, Turks - - - -55 

Turkey and Persia 56 

Hindoostan - - - - - 58 

Egypt 61 

CHAPTER IV. 

Europe : — 

Naples, Calabria, Sicily - - - - 63 

Italy, Venice, and Genoa - -"#".- 64 

Spain, Portugal, and the Netherlands - - -66 

France 69 

Other States of Continental Europe - - - 74 

Switzerland - - - - ib. 

Germany - - - - - 75 

Prussia 83 

Austria - - - - - 84 

Sweden 85 

Russia - - - - - ib. 

England 86 

Ireland - - - - - - 90 

Statistics ----- 99 

Malta - - - - - - 106 

St. Helena - - - - - ib. 

Isles of France ■ - - - - ib. 

Cuba - - - - 107 

Mexico - - - - - ib. 

Lower Canada - ib. 

North America: — 

Georgia - - - - - 110 

South Carolina - 113 

Pennsylvania - - - - ib. 

Connecticut - - - - 117 

New York - - - - - 119 

Five New England States - - - 127 

Middle States - - - - - 130 

Southern States - ib. 

Western States - - - - - 131 



° CONTENTS. 

PART II. 

ON THE MULBERRY TREE. 
CHAPTER I. 

Mulberry, Genus, Species, Culture. Page 
Species I. 

Moms Nigra - - - - - 136 
Species II. 

Moras Rubra ----- 137 
Species III. 

Broussonetia Papyrifera - - - - 139 
Species IV. V. 

Morus Tinctoria, and the Moras Indica - - 140 
Species VI. 

Morus Tartarica, Constantinopolitana, Broussa - - ib. 
Species VII. 

Moras Alba ----- 141 
Varieties of the Morus Alba : — 

Folio Doppea ----- 142 

Folio Giazzolia - - - - - ib. 
Sub-varieties : — 

Feuille Rose ----- 143 

La Feuille Doree - - - ib. 

La Reine Batarde - - - - ib. 

Femelle - - - - - ib. 

La Reine - - - - - ib. 

La Grosse Reine - - - - ib. 

La Feuille d'Espagne - ib. 

La Feuille de Floes - ib. 

Moras Alba Rosea - - - - - 144 

Ovalifolia - ib. 

Macrophylla - - - ib. 

Obion gifolia - - - - 145 

Nana - - - - ib. 

Integrifolia - - - ib. 

— — Integrifolia Obscura - ib. 

Semilobata - - - - ib. 

- — Lobata -, ib. 

Lanciniata - - - ib. 

La Colombassette - - - - 146 

La Rose - - - - «&. 

La Colombasse Verte - ib. 

La Rabalayre, or Traineuse - - ib. 

La Poumaou, or la Porame - - - ib. 

La Meyne - - - - 147 

L'Amella, or L'Amande - ib. 

La Forcade, or la Fourche - - ib. 

La Dure - - - - ib. 

L 'Admirable - ib. 

Moras Lucida - - - - 150 

CHAPTER II. 

On the Culture of Species, or Kinds capable of Reproduction 
from Seed. 
Climate, Soil, Situation, Seed, Seedlings, Nurseries, Engrafting, &c. 
Transplanting, Standards, Plantations, Instruments. 
Climate ------ 151 



CONTENTS. y 

Page 

Situation and Shelter - - - -152 

Preparation of the Ground, - - - 153 

To obtain the Seed - - - - - ib. 

To prepare the Seed - - - - ib. 

Mode of testing the Quality of Seed - - - 155 

Time of sowing - - - - - 156 

Manner of sowing - - - - - 157 

Subsequent Culture of the Seed-beds and Seedlings - 158 

Sowing by the whole Fruit - - - - 159 

Sowing broad-cast - - - - 160 

Transplanting - - - - -161 

By the Seed-bed - ■ ' , - io - 

— the Nursery ----- 162 

— Mulberry Hedge --•'-.- *63 

— the Dwarf Orchard - - - - 164 

— Hedge Plantations - 170 

_ First Plan - - - - 171 

Second Plan - - - - 173 

— Plantation Standards - 174 
Grafting and Budding - - - - 177 

Pruning - - - - - -178 

Suckers _----«&. 

CHAPTER III. 

The Morus Multicaulis, its Description and Statistics - 180 

CHAPTER IV. 

On the Culture of the Morus Multicaulis - - 190 

Cultivation - 193 

By Cuttings ; Method 1. - - - - ib. 

— do. do. 2. - 195 

— Layers; do. 3. - - - 197 

— do. do. 4. - ib. 
Substitutes for the Mulberry Tree - - - 198 

Madura Auruntiaca, or Osage Orange - - ib. 

Scorzonera, or Viper Grass - - - - 199 

Tragopogan porrifolium, or Salsafy - - ib. 

Lactuca Sativa, or Garden Lettuce - ib. 

The Willow Tree, Rose Tree, &c. - - ib. 

CHAPTER V. 

Leaves : Trees or Leaves selling or renting : Leaf Market : 
Statistics. 

1. Analysis of the Mulberry Tree - 200 

2. State of Leaves proper for feeding - 202 

3. Preserving Leaves ----- 203 

4. Mode of gathering the Leaves - - - 204 

5. Repeated Defoliations - 205 

1st Method, or by the green Leaf - 207 

2d do. or by the dry Leaf - ib. 

3d do. or by Leaf-powder - ib. 

Renting of Trees, or selling of Leaves - 208 

Leaf-market - - - - - 213 

Statistics relative to the Mulberry Tree - - - 214 

Product of the White Mulberry - - - 217 

Product of the Morus Multicaulis - 219 

Tabular Statistics - 222 



10 CONTENTS. 

PART III. 

ON THE SILK WORM. 

CHAPTER I. Page 

On the Silk Worm ; Genus, Species, Varieties - - 224 

Order, Lepidoptera ib. 

Genus, Bombyx - - - - ib. 

Species, Mori - - - - - ib. 

Larva — Pupa, Nymph, Aurelia, or Chrysalis - - 225 

Caterpillar of four Moultings - 230 

1. three Moultings - ib. 

2. Large Silk Worms of four Moultings - - ib. 

3. Silk Worms that produce white Silk - - - 231 

4. The dark-coloured Silk Worm - ib. 

5. Silk Worms of eight Crops - - - - 232 

6. Mammoth White - ib. 
Varieties : — 

1. The Pennsylvania Silk Worm - ib. 

2. The Virginia do. - 233 

3. The Tusseh or Bughy do. - - - ib. 

4. The Arrindy do. - 234 

5. The Jarroo do. - - - ib. 

6. The Emperor Moth - ib. 

7. The Bombyx Chrysorrhcea - ib. 
8, 9. Tsouen-kien, or Lyan-kien - 235 

10. The Social Silk-nest Spinner - ib. 

11, 12. The Wild Figara, and Oak Silk Worm of China - ib. 
Substitutes : — 

Spiders' Silk - - - - - 236 

Pinna Silk ----- 237 

CHAPTER II. 

Cocoonery: Eggs: Hatching. 

Cocoonery ------ 239 

Eggs of the Silk Worm - - - 245 

Preservation and Treatment of Eggs - - ib. 

Hatching ----- 247 

Diseases - - - - - - 251 

1. Diseases from Defect in the Eggs - 252 

2. bad Air of the District in which Silk Worms 

are raised - 253 

3. Impurity in the Air in the Cocoonery - 254 

4. want of Room - 256 

5. the quality or quantity of Food - 257 

6. improper Change of Food - - ib. 

7. a peculiar Constitution of the Air - 258 

8. sudden Changes of Temperature - - 259 

Particular Diseases: — - - - - ib. 

1. The Passis - - - - - 260 

2. The Grasserie - ib. 

3. The Lusette, Causes and Remedy - - - 261 

4. The Yellows, Symptoms ; Causes ; Remedy - - ib. 

5. The Muscardine, Symptoms ; Causes - 262 

6. The Tripes, Symptoms ; Cause ; Remedies - - 263 
Enemies to Silk Worms - 264 

Statistics, relative to Silk Worms' Eggs N - - 265 
, Space - - - - - 278 



CONTENTS. 11 

CHAPTER III. Page 

The Rearing or Silk Worms, from the first Appearance of 

the Larva unto the Chrysalis, or Cocoon - - 280 

1st Age - - - - 291 

2d Age - - - - - - ib. 

3d Age ------ . ib. 

4th Age - - - - - - 292 

5th Age - - - - ib. 

Rearing of the Worms. 

1st Age .—First Day - - - - - 294 

Second Day - 295 

Third Day - - - - ib. 

Fourth Day - - - 296 

Fifth Day - ib. 

General Remarks on the First Age - 297 

2d Age: — Sixth Day - - - - 299 

Seventh Day - 300 

Eighth Day - ib. 

Ninth Day - ib. 

General Remarks on the Second Age - - - 301 

3d Age: — Tenth Day - ib. 

Eleventh Day - - - - 302 

Twelfth Day ib. 

Thirteenth Day - ib. 

Fourteenth Day - _ - 303 

Fifteenth Day - ib. 

General Remarks on the Third Age - - ib. 

4th Age:— - _ _ - - 304 

Sixteenth Day - 305 

Seventeenth Day - 306 

Eighteenth Day - - ib. 

Nineteenth Day - " - - - ib. 

Twentieth Day - ib. 

Twenty-first Day - ib. 

Twenty-second Day - ib. 

General Remarks on the Fourth Age - - - 307 

5th Age:— -.-..--- i6. 

Twenty-third Day - - - - 309 

Twenty-fourth Day - - _ 310 

Twenty-fifth Day - ib. 

Twenty-sixth Day - ib. 

Twenty-seventh Day - - - 311 

Twenty-eighth Day - ib. 

Twenty-ninth Day - - - _ ib. 

Thirtieth Day - ib. 

Thirty-first Day - - _ - 312 

General Remarks on the Fifth Age - - - ib. 

Thirty-second Day - ib. 

Spinning Cocoons - 314 

6th Age, Commencing the Pupa State - - - 315 

Gathering the Cocoons for Seed - - - ib. 

Preservation of Cocoons intended for Eggs - - 316 

Daily Loss in Weight of Cocoons - - - 317 

1th Age, The entire Life of the Moth - - - 318 

Stparation of the Moths and laying of Eggs - - 319 

Preservation of Eggs - 320 

Stifling the Chrysalides - _ . 321 



12 CONTENTS. 

PART IV. 

REELING: THROWSTING: DYEING: STATISTICS. 
CHAPTER I. 

Page 

Reeling : Description of Cocoons - 323 

1. Good Cocoons - - - - ib. 

2. Pointed Cocoons - - - - ib. 

3. Cocalons - - - - - ib. 

4. Dupions, or Double Cocoons - - - - ib. 

5. Soufflons - - - - ib. 

6. Perforated Cocoons - - - - - ib. 

7. Good Choquettes - ib. 

8. Bad Choquettes - - - - - 324 

9. Calcined Cocoons - ib. 

The relative Value of Cocoons - ib. 

Piedmontese Reel, Description of - - 325 

Filature - - - - - - 326 

Disbanding the Silk from the Reel - - 332 
Throwsting: Singles, Organzine, Tram, Sewing Silk, Cordon- 
net, Filoselle - - - - - 333 

Machinery - 334 

CHAPTER II. 
Dyeing. 

To cleanse and ungwn Silk - 342 

White Silk, or boiling to be dyed - 343 

Sulphuring - - - - - - ib. 

To boil Silks which are to be dyed - . - - ib. 

Aluming - - - - - - ib. 

The Indigo Tub ----- 344 

Crimson, several Receipts - 344, 352, 353 

Green ----- 345, 355, 357 

Lilac ------ 345 

Violet, with Logwood, Brazil Wood, Archil - - 346 

Violet Blue ' - -' - - - - 356 

Yellow, of various Shades - - 346,349,350,351,354 

Poppy - ,- - - - - 347 

Black ------ ib. 

Blue, dark ----- 348,356 

Blue, Turkish ----- 351,355 

Blue, (ultramarine) ----- 356 

Buff - - - - - - 351 

Pink, real - - - - - - ib. 

Red, deep - - - - 352,353,357 

Brown, real - - - - - - 353 

Nankeen ------ 355 

Conclusion ------ 358 

Statistics- ----- 359 

— — — , Feeding - - - - - 361 



A TREATISE 

ON THE MULBERRY TREE, &c. 



PART I. 

HISTORY OF THE CULTURE AND MANUFACTURE 
OF SILK. 



CHAPTER I. 

PRELIMINARY REMARKS ON THE ORIGIN OF SILK CULTURE 
IN CHINA. 

How frequently do we find that the highest eleva- 
tion in character, in the wealth and independence of 
individuals or nations, arises from some small and 
apparently insignificant origin. The silk worm, the 
cocoon, the raw material that gives lucrative employ- 
ment to myriads, mills, looms, machinery, filatures, 
factories, the busy merchant, the crowded warehouse, 
the loaded ship, transporting the rich damask, the 
thick velvet, the stiff brocade, the thin gauze and 
delicate blonde, fabrics valuable as silver, or more 
valuable than mines of precious metals to nations, 
proceed from, or are set in motion, by what ? By 
the eggs of an insect ; eggs so small that threescore 
scarcely weigh one grain ! ! 

It is no less singular than true, that light, know- 
ledge, the arts and sciences, literature, and even the 
gospel itself, pursue, in their respective movements, 
a course similar to that of the sun. They rise in the 

2 13 



14 HISTORY OF SILK. 

east, and move towards the west. Thus onward 
may they go till they encompass the earth, not only 
with a zone, but with zones of light more numerous 
than the belts of Jupiter or the rings of Saturn, dis- 
pelling all the proceeds of darkness, misunderstand- 
ing, and animosity, and binding man to man, nation 
to nation, and hemisphere to hemisphere, in one 
grand circle of reciprocity and fellow interest, and in 
all the amenities of fraternal benevolence. 

In our search for the distant origin of any art or 
science, or in looking through the long vista of ages 
remote even to nations extinct before our own, we 
are favoured with satisfactory evidence so long as 
we are accompanied with authentic records: beyond, 
all is dark, obscure, tradition, fable. On such ground 
it would be credulous or rash in the extreme to re- 
peat, as our own, an affirmation, when that rests on 
the single testimony of one party or interest, espe- 
cially when that is of a very questionable character. 

It is even more safe, when history or well authen- 
ticated records fail us, to appeal to philosophy, or to 
the well known laws of mind, from which all arts 
and science spring. The former favours us with the 
commanding evidence of certainty and decision ; and 
though the latter may only afford the testimony of 
analogy, yet is its probability more safe, at least, than 
what rests on misguided calculations or on the legend- 
ary tales of artifice and fiction. 

Whilst the natural sun that shines on this earth 
diffuses his rays equally, and illuminates a whole 
hemisphere at once, how different is it in reference 
to the intellectual sun. Here we see the latter 
steadily maintaining his immovable meridian over 
some favoured portion, some central region of the 
earth, even for ages, until the derivative, not the 
primitive rays, are transmitted to every cardinal 
point of the civilized nations. And after first com- 
municating, by the latter, the inventive power to 
man, like a pillar of light gradually wending its way 
from east to west ; or, forming a zone, of which 



HISTORY OF SILK. 15 

whilst one extremity has not yet left the east, now- 
bending over the Atlantic, the other is already illu- 
minating the shores of the western world. 

After this view of the subject, there will be the 
less difficulty in arranging all the families of the earth 
into two divisions, strongly distinguished from each 
other. The one, that which has signalized itself by 
the possession and exercise of the inventive talent ; 
a faculty in common with every other of excellence, 
originally proceeding from Him who is the only giver 
of mind and its every attribute.* In striking contrast 
to this is that division which comprises those nations 
that, instead of the inventive, have, from time imme- 
morial, only evinced the imitative faculty. The deri- 
vative, not the primitive, rays have reached them. 
They may be in possession of many of the arts, and 
some of the sciences, but together with these they 
give full proof that they originated not with them. 
They know precisely what their fathers knew. In 
present emergencies, they refer to the precedent of 
their ancestors, rather than to the varying circum- 
stances of the case. Their dress, their manners, their 
habits, their customs, their festivals, their gods, their 
temples, their superstition, their pagodas, in routine 
and fashion, are the same they were centuries ago. 
Improvements in the arts, or new discoveries in 
science they know not. And all these are so many 
collateral proofs, and afford strong presumptive testi- 
mony, that whatever arts, or whatever of science they 
inherit, they are the bequest of antecedent proprietors.! 

* As a proof that the inventive faculty, as to every thing truly useful 
to man, originally proceeded from the only " Giver of every good mid 
perfect gift" consult Isa. xxviii. 24 to 29 : and also a beautiful com- 
ment by Dr. A. Clarke on, " And thou shalt speak unto all that are wise 
hearted, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom." Exod. xxviii. 
3 : and also on, " I have filled him with the spirit of God in wisdom, and 
in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workman- 
ship ; to devise cunning works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in 
brass ; and in cutting of stones, to set them, and in carving of timber, 
to work in all manner of curious workmanship." Exod. xxxi. 3, 4, and 5. 

■j- " The stationary condition of the arts and sciences in China," says 
a late writer, " proves that they have not originated with that people : 



16 HISTORY OF SILK. 

Frequent examples are found where the polity of a 
whole nation, of a whole empire, or even of a whole 
church, is to chain down the mind not merely of an in- 
dividual, but of whole communities in all thinking, say- 
ing, doing, to the formularies of antiquated precedent. 
Wherever this is the case, the mind becomes habitu- 
ally inert ; it is circumscribed on every side by the 
moss-grown barriers of patriarchal times, beyond 
which it never dares to pass, and never knows either 
the joy or the fame of an Archimedes when he ex- 
claimed Evgmut, iv^Kst, I have found it ! I have found it ! 
No facts are of greater notoriety than those that 
give new and varied proofs every day, that ambition 
is a vice too generally prevalent in nations much 
more civilized than the Chinese. But that furtive 
species of it that induces an individual or a nation to 
claim this discovery or that invention, whilst it is the 
property of another, is, however dishonourable, too 
frequently practised. If a single discovery, invention, 
or art, is sufficient to produce this temptation, how 

and many peculiarities of the manners, institutions, and popular religion 
of the Chinese, have a near affinity to those of the Hindoos. We have 
remarked the ignorance of the Chinese in mathematics and astronomy. 
Of physics they have no acquaintance beyond the knowledge of appa- 
rent facts. They never ascend to principles, nor form theories. Their 
knowledge of medicine is extremely limited, and blended with the most 
contemptible superstition. Of anatomy they know next to nothing ; 
and in surgery, they have* never ventured to amputate a limb, nor to 
reduce a fracture. The Chinese are said to have manufactured glass 
2000 years ago, yet at this day it is inferior in transparency to the 
European, and is not used in their windows. They are reported to 
have known gunpowder from time immemorial, but they never employed 
it in artillery or fire arms, till they were taught by the Europeans. 
When first shown the use of the compass in sailing, they affirmed that 
they were well acquainted with it, but found no occasion to employ 
it /" If they are indeed conversant with navigation, let them prove it, 
by sending a vessel, navigated by a Chinese captain, here. " The art of 
painting in China is mere mechanical imitation, without grace, expres- 
sion, or even accuracy of proportions : of the rules of perspective they 
have not the smallest idea. In sculpture, as in the figure of their idols, 
the Chinese seem to delight in distortion. The knowledge they have 
seems to have been imported, and not of original growth, for it has never 
been progressive." See also M. Bailly's Theory of the Origin of the 
Sciences among the Nations of India. 



HISTORY OP SILK. 17 

much stronger must this be, when it refers to a whole 
circle of such discoveries or arts, on which the aggran- 
dizement and independence of an empire is supposed 
to depend ? What a necessary part of the policy of 
such a commonwealth must it be, to adopt every 
manoeuvre to preserve concealment, or to shroud the 
whole in the distant mists of extreme and visionary 
antiquity. What motives have the Chinese had, in 
which they have had no parallel amongst any other 
people, to isolate themselves, from the earliest times, 
from the scrutiny of other nations; to burn, in the 
reign of Tchehoam-ti, all their historical writings, to 
bury alive their learned men, to destroy effectually 
the dates and records of past events, and to sanction 
the Jesuits in the calculation of eclipses, to the know- 
ledge of which the Chinese pretend, but could never 
use or exemplify, except when surreptitiously ob- 
tained, for the purposes of subtlety and deception. 

The advocates for the extreme antiquity of the 
Chinese, assert that their empire has subsisted above 
4000 years, and appeal, as a proof, to a series of 
eclipses marking contemporary events, calculated for 
2155 years before the Christian era. The present 
Chinese have no such knowledge of the motions of 
the celestial bodies as to enable them to calculate 
eclipses. They can no more calculate one eclipse, 
past or future, much less a series, than they can 
navigate a ship from Canton to Acapulco. But 
the Jesuits who presided there in the tribunal of 
mathematics, for more tha,n 200 years, calculated for 
them, these eclipses, in order to ingratiate themselves 
with the emperors, and to natter Chinese vanity. 
And if they could have done this, still it proves 
nothing. It is easy to calculate eclipses backwards 
from the present to any period, and thus to give to 
any fictitious portion of history its chronology of real 
eclipses. But no valid conclusion can result from this, 
unless it were likewise proved that all those eclipses 
were not only actually recorded at the time when 
they happened, but also in reference to some historic 



18 HISTORY OF SILK. 

event. But this neither has nor can be done ; for it 
is an allowed fact, that there are no authentic Chinese 
records beyond the third century prior to the Chris- 
tian era. Hence, there is no argument; and the 
futility of such an artifice is too self-evident to have 
demanded the able pen of so eminent an astronomer 
as La Place* to expose the chicanery of such a sub- 
terfuge.! 

We have, however, authentic testimony that the 
inventive faculty existed at a very early period. 
The peculiar condition of man at that time must 
have afforded many imperative occasions for its ex- 
ertion. Hence we read that " JabalJ was the father 
of such as dwell in tents," (inventor of tent-making;) 
that " Jubal, his brother, was the father," (inventor) 

* See La Place on the subject. 

j- Neither is it always considered, in referring to any distant period, 
especially as to remote nations, or prior to the time of Sosigenes, what 
we are to understand by the word year. The solar year is 365 days, 
5 hours, 48 minutes, 51*6 seconds precisely, and no other computation, 
whether what. is called the Julian year of 365 days 6 hours, or what is 
commonly, but erroneously quoted as a tropical revolution, 365 days 
5 hours 48 minutes and 45 seconds, will correspond to solar time, 
without periodic corrections, such as the intercalation of a day every 
leap year, and the omission of three days every 400 years, according to 
the edict of Gregory XIII : and even then there will be an error of 
5 hours and 40 minutes every 1 000 years. If then, we, the moderns, 
find such difficulty in keeping pace with the sun, what did the ancients 
do 1 The very circumstance of our present years commencing on the 
1st of January, instead of at the winter solstice, is a proof of their pre- 
dilection for lunar instead of solar time. For the new moon happening 
8 days after the solstice, when Csesar first adopted the Julian computa- 
tion, the year was made to commence on that day instead of when the 
sun entered Capricorn. Before this the year amongst all nations was 
lunar, containing precisely so many moons, moonths, or months, each 
beginning on the day of the new moon, though they consisted of a 
different number of days. The Hebrew and Greek year contained 354 
days ; that of Numa Pompilius, 355, and the year of Romulus com- 
prised only 304 days. The very terms expressive of time, as calendar 
from Kiixio) to call, or from the calling together of the people on the 
first day of the new moon,- or annus, kvkkoc, &c. from which we have 
annual, cycle, &c. being ambiguous, and signifying a circle as well as 
time, have occasioned some to suspect that anciently, especially amongst 
remote nations, these circles were the less and not the greater, and 
therefore lunar, and absolutely moonths, not years. 

+ Gen. iv. 20. 



HISTORY OF SILK. 19 

of musical instruments : such as the kinnor, harp, or 
stringed instruments, and the ugab, organ, or wind 
instruments ; that " Tubal-cain was the instructor of 
every artificer in brass and iron," the first smith on 
record, or one to teach how to make instruments and 
utensils out of brass and iron ; and that the sister of 
Tubal-cain* was Naamah, whom the Targum of 
Jonathan ben Uzziel affirms to have been the inven- 
irix of plaintive or elegiac poetry. Here is then an 
account of the inventive faculty being in exercise 
3504 years before the Christian era ; or 1156 years 
prior to the deluge ; or 804 years before the earliest 
period assigned to the Chinese for the discovery of 
silk. And of whatever arts or sciences existing 
amongst men prior to the deluge, there is no diffi- 
culty in conceiving the possibility of the transmission 
of the leading and most essential parts, at least, to 
the post-diluvians, by the family of Noah. 

But instead of giving our unqualified assent to 
what has been servilely copied from book to book 
from the most accessible account, we shall advert to 
the great discrepancy relative to Chinese chronology, 
amongst those who have had equal access to their 
records. Thus the time of Fohi, the first emperor, 
has been said to be 2951 b. c. by some 21 98 b. c., 
and by others 2057, or about 300 years after the 
deluge: of Hoang-ti, 2700 b. c, by Mailla it is quoted 
at 2602 b. c.j by Le Sage at 2597 b. c, and by Robin- 
son and others at 1703 b. c. Similar disagreements 
might, would our limits allow, be observed concerning 

* It is worthy of remark that M. de Lavaur in his Conference de la 
Fable avec VHlstoire Sainte supposes that the Greeks and Romans 
took their smith-god Vulcan from Tubal-cain. Tubal-cain is, indeed, 
easily convertible into Vul-can, who was also an artificer, a master 
smith in brass and iron. Now if the Greeks and Romans, through 
that change of letters, syllables, or sounds, which one language is liable 
to suffer in its transit to another, and through the obscurity of tradition, 
could so easily mistake one sound or name for another, or substitute a 
fictitious for a real character ; it becomes a matter of still greater pro- 
bability that similar substitutions may be found, especially in that part 
of Chinese history which is extremely remote and fabulous. 



20 HISTORY OP SILK. 

the rest, and particularly of the emperors, Hiao-wen- 
ti, Chim-ti, Ming-ti, Youen-ti, Wen-ti, Wou-ti, and 
Hiao-wou-ti. Even in more modern times, and rela- 
tive to a character so notorious as Confucius, no less 
than three dates are equally affirmed to be true. As 
to Hoang-ti, who is said to have begun the culture 
of silk, we are inclined to prefer the latter account, 
1703 b. c, which makes him contemporary with 
Joseph, when prime minister over the land of Egypt. 

As a confirmation of this, it may be stated, that 
by referring to the account given of nine* of the 
patriarchs at this period, we shall find that the aver- 
age age of man was then 186 years; and that the 
duration of human life, before much greater, soon 
after rapidly declined. Now the average duration 
of the reigns of the first threet Chinese emperors, 
including Hoang-ti was 118 years; of the five that 
immediately succeeded, only 68 years. After this, 
until the Christian era, the average duration of a 
single reign of the Chinese emperors did not exceed 
23 years, and thence until the present time not 13 
years. Since, therefore, the average duration of the 
reign of the first three emperors bears an evident and 
fit proportion to that of the age of man at the period 
specified, though not at any other before or after, 
being in the former case as much too small as it 
would in the latter be too great, the opinion we have 
offered is the only one that can be consistent with 
these striking facts ; and, if duly considered, presents 
an argument strongly corroborating the view we 
have taken of the subject. 

The attempt to establish any greater certainty, in 
a case of this nature, the Chinese during the dynasty 
of Tschin, having, to conceal the truth, destroyed 
every thing authentic, would be in vain. It would 
be even more rational to have recourse to the Vedas, 
or sacred books of the Brahmins, or to records in the 

* Peleg, Reu, Serug, Nahor, Terah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and 
Joseph: Gen. xi. 16 to 26 ; xlvii. 28; and 1. 26. 
•j- Fohi, Eohi Xinum, and Hoang-ti. 



HISTORY OF SILK. 21 

ancient Sanscrit, were it not a well known fact, that 
nearly all ancient nations, except the Jews, actuated 
by the same ambition, have betrayed a wish to have 
their origin traced as far back as the creation. And 
in the gratification of this passion none are so noto- 
riously pre-eminent as the Egyptians, Hindoos, and 
Chinese. For them the limits of the creation itself 
have been too narrow, and days, weeks, and even 
months too short, unless multiplied into years.* 

Whenever authentic records fail, fable or hypothe- 
sis alone can supply the place. The former can only 
amuse us with a whole host of gods, demi-gods, 
satyrs, nymphs, and heroes. As to the latter, our 
only alternative is to select the one that has the 
strongest presumptive testimony in its favour. 

The strong resemblance, in several respects, be- 
tween the Chinese and the ancient Egyptians, has 
almost irresistibly given rise to the conjecture that 
originally they were the same people. M. de Mairan 
informs us, that the Egyptians and Chinese were 
strikingly similar in the following points : the same 
permanency of manners, abhorrence of innovation, 
aversion to war, a superficial knowledge of the arts 
and sciences without the ability to make improve- 
ments or discoveries ; and, in more remote times, the 
use of hieroglyphics. A festival of the Egyptians 
called the feast of the lights, corresponds to that of 
the Chinese, the feast of the lanterns : the features 
of the Chinese resemble the ancient Egyptian statues; 
and certain characters engraven on an Egyptian 
bust of Isis were found to belong to the Chinese lan- 
guage. 

" If we find," says M. Bailly, " in the scattered 
huts of peasants, fragments interspersed of sculptured 
columns, we conclude with certainty that they are 
not the work of the rude peasants who reared those 
huts, but that they are the remains of a magnificent 
building, the work of able architects, though we dis- 

* See Dr. A. Clarke's remarks : end of Gen. 



22 HISTORY OP SILK. 

cover no other traces of the existence of that building, 
and cannot ascertain where was its precise situation." 
From this argument, and a comparison of the man- 
ners, customs, opinions, and attainments of the In- 
dians, Persians, Chinese, Chaldeans, and Egyp- 
tians, and a discovery of many circumstances of 
similarity between all those nations, M. Bailly comes 
to the singular conclusion, that the knowledge com- 
mon to all has been derived from the same original 
source, a most ancient and highly cultivated people 
of Asia, of which every trace is new extinct.* 



* " The sciences and arts of the Chinese have been stationary for 2000 
years. The Chaldeans were a comparatively enlightened people at the 
commencement of the Babylonish empire, or so early as 1900 a. m. 
We find, soon afterwards, that they were astronomers, and understood 
the revolutions of the celestial bodies. The Chaldeans probably pro- 
ceeded from this ancient people. In the leading and more essential 
points of theology, the belief of the Brahmins is the same as was that 
of the Chaldeans, though subsequently intermingled with many ab- 
surdities, the result of their superstition and ignorance. The elegant 
and copious language, the Sanscrit, the source of all Indian knowledge, 
has been now a dead language for more than 2000 years, and is intelli- 
gible only to a few of the Brahmins. It was probably the language of 
that great and ancient people. 

" The custom of libations and religious ablutions was common to the 
Tartars, Chinese, and Hindoos, as well as to the Greeks and Romans. 
All the Asiatic nations had festivals of the nature of the Roman saturn- 
alia. The tradition of the deluge is diffused among all those nations ; 
and that of the giants attacking heaven, (tower of Babel) is equally 
general. The doctrine of the metempsychosis was common to the 
Egyptians, Greeks, Indians, Persians, Tartarians, and Chinese. A 
conformity in a true doctrine is no proof of mutual communication or 
concert ; but it is ingeniously remarked, that a conformity in a false 
doctrine comes very near to such a proof." 

"The Egyptians, Chaldeans, Indians, Persians, and Chinese, all 
placed their temples fronting the east. All these nations had a cycle 
or period of 60 years for regulating their chronology. They all divided 
the circle into 360 degrees ; the zodiac into 12 signs, and the week into 
7 days. The Chinese, Indians, and Egyptians distinguished the seven 
days of the week by the names of the seven planets ranged in the same 
order. The long measures of the ancient nations had all one common 
origin." 

" These singular coincidences," says M. Bailly, " can be explained 
only upon one or the other of the following three suppositions : 1st, 
that there was a free communication between all those ancient nations ; 
2ndly, that those circumstances of coincidence are so founded in human 



HISTORY OP SILK. 23 

From the Egyptians, it is well known, that the 
Greeks, those venerable models of fine taste, of the 
arts and sciences, received the first rudiments of their 
knowledge. And M. de Guignes of the Academy 
of Sciences and Belles Lettres in France, has present- 
ed strong presumptive testimony that the Chinese, 
(he might probably have added the Hindoos,) were 
originally an Egyptian colony. He has discovered 
the very remarkable fact, that the first Chinese 
sovereigns were precisely the same, as those of 
Thebes in Upper Egypt. He concludes from thence, 
with sufficient reason, that an Egyptian emigration, 
of which we find some traces in their history, settled 
themselves upon the borders of the eastern ocean, 
and grafted the history of their native place, upon 
that of the soil of their adopted country. He more- 
over points out an evident affinity between the 
Chinese alphabet and the Egyptian hieroglyphics. 
Whether M. de Guignes is correct in his conjectures 
or not, it is certain, that there is an extraordinary 
similitude in the manners, genius, morals, and cha- 
racter of these two distant nations; and it must be 
confessed that the collective testimonies adduced by 
him approximate to that evidence which demands 
conviction. 

Admitting, as is equally, if not still more probably 
a fact, that the Chinese emigrated from the Hindoos, 
and the latter from the Egyptians, Sir William Jones, 
consistently with the above hypothesis, and with 
evidence deduced from the high authority of the 
Sanscrit, traces the origin of the Chinese from the 
Hindoos. He appeals to passages of the ancient 
Sanscrit records, which mention a migration of certain 
of the military class termed Chinas from India to the 
countries east from Bengal. If to a declaration from 

nature, that the most unconnected nations could not fail to hit upon them ; 
or, 3dly, that they have been all derived from a common source. He 
rejects the two former suppositions as contrary, in his opinion, to the 
ordinary course of things, as well as to matter of fact ; and adopts the 

last." 



24 HISTORY OF SILK. 

the Sanscrit, by so competent an authority as Sir 
William Jones, be added the allowed affinity existing 
between the manners, institutions, religion, and pecu- 
liarities of the Hindoos and those of the Chinese, we 
have an evidence relative to the origin of the latter, 
which, if it obtain not our entire credence, is, at least, 
entitled to our respect. 

But our belief of this is further strengthened from 
the consideration, that in the days of Ninus, a. m., 
1995, the Assyrian empire extended from Egypt to 
Bactria,* now a part of Bukharia ; and in the time 
of Semiramis, the conquests were pursued to the south 
and east, as far as the river Indus. The transit, 
therefore, of Egyptian colonists to India or Hindoos- 
tan, at this time, was easy ; since one interest, or one 
government prevailed from Egypt on the southwest 
to Bactria on the north, and to the Indus on the 
southeast. Nineveht founded by Asshur,J the second 
son of Shem, who gave his name to Assyria, was in 
the early part of the reign of Semiramis the metro- 
polis of the Assyrian government, but in the latter 
part, the capital was established at Babylon: the 
Chaldeans, at that time, being a part of the same 
empire. Both the Egyptians and Chaldeans were 
renowned for their early acquaintance with the arts 
and sciences. We perceive, therefore, the united lore 
of both already on the march to India. And if the 
rest of that march we give up to the high authorities 
of Sir William Jones and the Sanscrit, that announce 
to us an " early migration of the military class, the 
Chinas from India to countries east of Bengal," we 
are, together with our Egyptian and Chaldean§ colo- 
nists, in China at once. 

* Bactra, the capital, was about 60 miles to the north of the present 
Samarcand, the metropolis of the great conqueror Tamerlane. 

•j- Now called Mossul, on the banks of the Tigris. 

* Gen. x. 11 and 22. 

§ " In confirmation that all men have been derived from one family, 
let it be observed, that there are many customs and usages, both sacred 
and civil, which have prevailed in all parts of the world, which could 
owe their origin to nothing but a general institution, that could never 



HISTORY OF SILK. 25 

But who was Fohi, or the supposed first Chinese 
emperor ? And who were the Seres, the reputed first 
cultivators of silk, and where did they dwell ? We 
shall begin with the latter inquiry first. 

Dr. Lardner informs us that " Se is the name for 
silk in the Chinese language ; this, by a faulty pro- 
nunciation in the frontier provinces, acquired the 
final r. thus changing the word into Ser, the very 
name adopted by the Greeks." And under the word 
2»§, in the Lexicon of Hesychius we read raowf ywZv to 
a-H^Uov, the worm which produces the silk thread. Its 
plural is found in the same sense in the letter of the 
emperor Julian, bl n^o) o%?. the Persian silk worms. 
Seres also in the plural, was employed by the Greeks 
and Romans to signify the people who attended to 
silk worms. Hence Serica, the country of the Seres ; 
which was sometimes written Sereinda, a term ap- 
plicable indefinitely to any country inhabited by the 
Seres* or silk growers, beyond the Indus.t 

By the ancients, and in maps of ancient geography, 
Serica is differently placed, sometimes more to the 

have existed, had not mankind been of the same blood originally, and 
instructed in the same common notions before they were dispersed. 
Among these usages may be reckoned, 1. The numbering by tens. 2. 
Their computing time by a cycle of seven days. 3. Their setting apart 
the seventh day for religious purposes. 4. Their use of sacrifices, pro- 
pitiatory, and eucharistical. 5. The consecration of temples and altars. 
6. The institution of sanctuaries or places of refuge, and their privi- 
leges. 7. Their giving a tenth part (tythe) of the produce of their 
fields, &c. for the use of the altar. 8. The custom of worshipping the 
Deity bare-footed. 9. Abstinence from sensual gratification previous to 
offering sacrifice. 10. The order of priesthood and its support. 11. 
The notion of legal pollutions, defilements, &c. 12. The universal 
tradition of a general deluge. 13. The universal opinion that the rain- 
bow was a divine sign or portent, &c. See Dodd." Dr. A. Clarke on 
Gen. x. 26. 

The Chinese use certain purifications even before they enter their 
cocooneries. See a summary of the principal Chinese Treatises on the 
Culture of Silk, &c, published in 1838, by P. Force, Washington. 

* Hence the Greek term for silk, a-ngmov, the Latin sericum, the Ita- 
lian seta, the French soie, and the English silk. In more modern 
times, from &/u£u%, or Bombyx mori, the caterpillar of the mulberry, we 
find the terms Bombycina, and Bombykia employed to signify silk. 

•}• Not beyond the Ganges as has been inconsiderately affirmed. 
3 



26 HISTORY OP SILK. 

east, at others to the west, but never beyond the 48th 
degree of north latitude. This is indefinite, but easily 
accounted for from the consideration that the ancients 
had only a confused idea of central Asia. They gave 
it the vague denomination of Scythia beyond Im- 
maus, though that included that vast region, now 
known as Chinese Tartary, ranging from the Belur- 
tag mountains on the west to the Pacific on the east. 
They, therefore, wrote so imperfectly of the exact 
position of Seres, Serica, or Sericane, as to occasion 
considerable dispute amongst European writers on 
the subject, whilst some, for no better reason than 
that deduced from the more modern site of the silk 
trade, have placed it in northern China. But we are 
informed by Madame Coinde, that an enlightened 
critic, without stating his name, has assigned satisfac- 
tory reasons for placing aboriginal Serica in little Bu- 
charia, a country crossing the 40th parallel of north 
latitude near the eastern fronts of the Belur-tag moun- 
tains ; whence migration subsequently may have taken 
place to China proper. 

We have seen that the most probable account re- 
lative to the time of Fohi, said to have been the first 
Chinese emperor, is, that he reigned 2057 years be- 
fore the Christian era, or in the year of the world 
1947. "According to the most current opinion," 
says M. Lavoisne, " China was founded by one of 
the colonies formed at the dispersion of Noah's pos- 
terity, under the conduct of Yao, who took for his 
colleague Chun, afterwards his successor. But most 
writers consider Fohi to have been Noah himself." 

Now the deluge terminated a. m. 1657, and Noah 
lived after the deluge 350 years,* and therefore died 
a. m. 2007 ; and as Fohi is said to have reigned 114 
years, before Eohi Chun or Chimin succeeded him, 
he was cotemporary, at least, with Noah. The ark 
rested on Mount Ararat, which is generally allowed to 
be one of the mountains of Armenia, to the east of 

* Gen. ix. 28. 



HISTORY OF SILK. 27 

the head of the Tigris. And here the same author 
remarks, that " in rather less than a century and a 
half, after the birth of Peleg, it is supposed that Noah, 
being then about his 840th year, wearied with the 
growing depravity of his descendants, retired with a 
select company to a remote corner of Asia, and there 
began what in after ages has been termed the Chinese 
monarchy." Little Bukharia assigned by Madame 
Coinde as the first settlement of the Seres, frequently 
translated Chinese, is certainly not far from the head 
of the Tigris. But here we take our leave of hypo- 
thesis, being not partial to any beyond what truth 
and future investigation will warrant, contenting our- 
selves with having shown that the most respectable 
testimonies relative to China are compatible with the 
most authentic records, now extant, in the world. 

Having offered these preliminary remarks, and given 
the most credible hypotheses to supply the place of 
absolute fiction ; finding also that the theories and 
even reputable testimonies presented by Messieurs 
Ma'irau, Bailly, Gruignes, and Sir William Jones, are 
perfectly compatible with each other, and allow us 
to demonstrate that the transit of more central abori- 
gines, since the deluge, to the extremes of China, was 
perfectly feasible, and a matter of even high proba- 
bility, we have sufficient warrant to decline repeating 
whatever any one else has said relative to the ex- 
treme antiquity of the first discovery of silk. With 
a considerable portion of mankind, the passion for 
the marvellous is excessive. China and other distant 
regions have been a convenient fund to draw upon. 
Had it not been for this source, the legends of Greek 
and Roman mythology having been long since given 
up as the mere bagatelle for the school-boy, there 
would have been a dearth. Fortunately for this pur- 
pose China is remote, access to her is denied, her 
ancient records are burnt; yet what has been written 
siuce, we are told, is more ancient than Egyptian 
pyramids. Thus the fund is renewed ; and in our 
search for the new and strange, we are, conveniently 



28 HISTORY OF SILK. 

enough, sent to China, to the Pelew Islands, to the 
depths of Nubia, to Gondar, or to Tombuctoo, where, 
of course, no one else can go. Of emperors the Chi- 
nese boast of 244, from Fohi the first, to Kia-Kim the 
present sovereign; and of gods, goddesses, demi-gods, 
and semi-goddesses, heroes, heroines, satyrs, fauns, 
the Pelopidse, Heraclidse, Labdacides, and Tynda- 
ridse, river, wood, and mountain nymphs of Greek 
and Roman mythology, without the name of empe- 
ror, king, or consul of authentic history, we ourselves 
can furnish, by genealogy and pedigree, a catalogue 
of more than 666, and calculate, as well as the 
Jesuits, eclipses for them too, if required ; and how 
many more they had, to whom as yet we have not 
had the honour of an introduction, we know not. 



ADDITIONAL NOTES. 

In Russel's View of Ancient and Modern Egypt we find, relative to 
the subject of the preceding chapter, so many valuable remarks, and that 
evidence, which it has cost the world ages to collect, that we cannot 
persuade ourselves to withhold such as our limits will allow from our 
readers ; and therefore add the following notes. 

1. "It has long been an object of inquiry among scholars to discover 
the channel through which civilization, science, and an acquaintance 
with the liberal arts first reached the valley which is watered by the 
Nile. Without analyzing the numerous hypotheses which have been 
successively formed and abandoned, we shall state at once as the most 
probable of the opinions that have been entertained on this subject, that 
the stream of knowledge, from the first family, accompanied the progress 
of commerce along the banks of those great rivers, which fall into the 
Persian Gulf, and thence along the coast of Arabia to the shores of the 
Red Sea. There is the best reason to believe that those passes or lateral 
defiles which connect the sea just named with the river of Egypt, wit- 
nessed the earliest migration of colonists from Asia ; who, in the pur- 
suits of commerce, or in search of more fertile lands, or of mountains 
enriched with gold, found their way into Nubia and Abyssinia. Mean- 
time it is possible, a similar current set eastward across the mouths of 
the Indus, carrying arts and institutions of a corresponding character 
into the countries which stretch from that river to the great peninsula 
of Hindoostan. 

2. " The most obvious confirmation of the opinion now stated may 
be drawn from the striking resemblance which is known to subsist be- 



HISTORY OF SILK. 29 

tween the usages, the superstitions, the arts, and the mythology of the 
ancient inhabitants of western India, and those of the first settlers on the 
Upper Nile. The temples of Nubia, for example, exhibit the same 
features, whether as to the style of architecture, or the form of worship 
which must have been practised in them, with the similar buildings 
which have been recently examined in the neighbourhood of Bombay. 
In both cases they consist of vast excavations hewn out of the solid 
body of a hill or mountain, and are decorated with huge figures which 
indicate the same powers of nature, or serve as emblems to denote the 
same qualities in the ruling spirits of the universe. 

3. " As a further proof of this hypothesis, we are informed that the 
Sepoys who joined the British army in Egypt under Lord Hutchinson, 
imagined that they found their own temples in the ruins of Dendera, 
and were greatly exasperated at the natives for their neglect of the an- 
cient deities, whose images are still preserved. So strongly indeed were 
they themselves impressed with this identity, that they proceeded to 
perform their devotions with all the ceremonies practised in their own 
land. There is a resemblance too, in the minor instruments of their 
superstition — the lotus, the lingam, and the serpent, — which can hardly 
be regarded as accidental ; but it is no doubt in the immense extent, the 
gigantic plan, the vast conception which appear in all their sacred 
buildings, that we most readily discover the influence of the same lofty 
genius, and the endeavour to accomplish the same mighty object. The 
excavated temple of Guerfeh Hassan, for instance, reminds every travel- 
ler of the cave of Elephanta. The resemblance, indeed, is singularly 
striking ; as are all the leading principles of Egyptian architecture to 
those of the Hindoos. Many even of the rites and emblems are pre- 
cisely the same, especially those of the temples dedicated to Iswara, the 
Indian Bacchus. In truth they are so much alike that the same workman 
might almost be supposed to have superintended the execution of them in 
both countries. In India and in Egypt the hardest granite mountains have 
been cut down into the most striking, if not the most beautiful fronts of 
temples adorned with sculpture. In both countries large masses of rocks 
have been excavated into hollow chambers, whose sides are embellished 
with columns and statues of men and animals carved out of the same 
stone ; and in each are found solid blocks of many hundred tons weight, 
separated from the adjoining mountain, and lifted up into the air. 
By whom and by what means these wonderful efforts have been ac- 
complished is a mystery sunk too deep into the abyss of time ever to be 
revealed. We need only compare the monolithic temples of Nubia with 
those of Mahabulipoor, the excavations of Guerfeh Hassan with those 
of Elephanta, and the grottoes of Hadjur Silsili with the caverns of El- 
lora, to be convinced that these sacred monuments of ancient days de- 
rived their origin from the same source." 

4. " A resemblance of a corresponding nature has been discovered in 
the religious usages of the Chinese compared with those of the Egyptians, 
particularly in what is called the feast of lamps, a festival annually ob- 
served by the latter people, and graphically described by Herodotus 
This coincidence led M. de Guignes to conclude that the first inhabi- 
tants of China must have been a colony from Egypt. But it is easy to 
account for all such facts on a much more rational hypothesis. No one 

3* 



30 HISTORY OF SILK. 

can have failed to remark, that among the more ancient nations, there 
is a great similarity in point of tradition, habits, opinions, knowledge, 
and history. The Babylonians, the Egyptians, the Assyrians, the 
Hindoos, and the descendants of Abraham, held many things in com- 
mon respecting the creation of the world, the great deluge, the disper- 
sion of the human race, and the first institution of laws and religious 
worship. Hence we may conclude that the general agreement in these 
particulars, which we contemplate ampng the more primitive tribes of 
mankind, ought to be ascribed to the instruction which they had re- 
ceived while as yet they were but one family, or to the traditionary 
tenets which had spread, with here and there a little variation, with the 
diverging lines of their successive tribes, though derived originally from 
the same source. 

5. " But by far the most striking point of resemblance between the 
ancient inhabitants of Egypt and of India is the institution of castes; 
that singular arrangement which places an insuperable barrier between 
different orders of men in the same country, and renders their respective 
honours, toils, and degradations, strictly hereditary and permanent. 
Before the invention of letters, indeed, mankind may be said to have 
been perpetually in their infancy ; whence arose the expedient, founded 
in a view for the public good, of compelling sons to cultivate the arts 
which had originated in their families, and to follow the professions 
whereby their fathers had acquired distinction. The narrative of Hero- 
dotus bears evidence to the same institution at an early period among 
the Egyptians. And his statement when compared with that of Dio- 
dorus Siculus at a later epoch, removes every shadow of doubt in regard 
to the identity of the principle from which this political arrangement must 
have originally proceeded." 

The reader will not be disappointed in perusing the whole of the 
highly interesting volume from which these notes are extracted. 



HISTORY OF SILK. 31 



CHAPTER II. 

HISTORY OF SILK TO THE PERIOD WHEN SILK WORMS 
WERE FIRST INTRODUCED INTO EUROPE. 

Though we are called upon in this chapter to give 
the chronology relative to the early culture of silk, 
as found in Chinese documents, yet we are by no 
means pledged to affirm that either in the authenticity 
of the books, or in the correctness of the dates have 
we any faith. The whole of this, for the several 
irrefragable objections already assigned, is exceed- 
ingly questionable. M. Lavoisne dates the com- 
mencement of the Chinese dynasties at a. m.* 1816, 
or 159 years after the deluge. The Rev. J. Robinson 
of Christ Col., Cam., at a. m. 1947. We have already 
given as strong reasons, as under the extreme incer- 
titude of the case, can, perhaps, be offered, for pre- 
ferring the latter: the important points may be briefly 
stated, thus: 

End of the deluge f 1 657 a. m. 

Fohi, first emperor, began to reign 1947 a. m. 

Noah died 2007 a.m. 

Eohi Chinun, second emperor, began to reign 2061 a. m. 

Hoang-ti, the third emperor, began to reign 2201 a. m. 

Hoang-ti, after establishing the silk culture, died 2301 a. m. 

And was therefore contemporary with Joseph when administering the 
affairs of Egypt. 

We have already seen that Seres is the term origi- 
nally employed for the silk growers, and since iden- 

* We prefer this mode (a. m. anno mundi, in the year of the world) 
of marking the time of events prior to the birth of Christ, which ac- 
cording to the commonly received chronology was a. m. 4004. 

| It will here not be improper to observe that the Samaritan text and 
Septuagint version of the Hebrew, carry the deluge as far back as to the 
year 3716 before Christ; or 1000 years before the Chinese account of 
Hoang-ti. On this subject see the New Analysis of Chronology, by 
the Rev. W. Hales, D.D., 4to. 3 vol. 



V 



32 HISTORY OF SILK. 

tified with the Chinese : Serica, the silk growing 
country, was therefore that of the Seres. Serica, in 
the most indefinite sense, was thought to be some 
region within what we call Chinese Tartary : by 
others, perhaps, inconsiderately placed in China pro- 
per; but by an ingenious author, quoted, but not 
named, by Madame Coinde, in Little Bukharia, near 
the Belur-tag mountains. We are not disposed to 
contemplate Sereinda, or the silk country beyond the 
Indus, as a distinct section of Serica. The course of 
the Indus, from which Sereinda is designated, is on 
the western frontiers of the Belur-tag mountains, 
which to a considerable distance, but not uniformly, 
form the western boundaries of Little Bukharia ; and 
the source of the Indus has been traced nearly as high 
as the 40th parallel of north latitude. We, therefore, 
contemplate the primitive settlement of the aboriginal 
Seres, or the ancient Serica, or Sereinda, as the same 
country ; and about five degrees to the south, but on 
the same meridian with the present city of Cashgar; 
and consequently between the sources of the Indus 
on the west, and the Belur-tags on the east. And 
sections of this original colony might subsequently 
migrate to Hindoostan on the south, or to China on 
the east. Whether this was the cradle of the first silk 
culture or not, the general interest, in process of time, 
would naturally set in with the tide of migration and 
move easterly, until we find the great emporium 
within the limits of the Celestial Empire. 

Here, doubtless, the Seres would be in the time of 
so late a Roman writer as Ammianus Marcellinus, 
quoted by Dr. Lardner. "Marcellinus describes the 
Seres as a sedate and gentle people, who avoid all 
contentions with neighbouring nations, and are, there- 
fore, free from the miseries and alarms of war. Being 
without the necessity for using offensive weapons, 
they are even unacquainted with them. Blessed 
with a fertile soil, and a delicious and salubrious cli- 
mate, they are represented as passing their happy 
days in the most perfect tranquillity and delightful 



HISTORY OF SILK. 33 

leisure, amid shady groves fanned by gentle breezes, 
and producing fleeces of downy wool, which after 
being sprinkled with water, is combed off in the 
finest threads, and woven into sericum." Marcel- 
linns proceeds to describe the Seres as being content 
with their own felicitous condition, and so reserved 
in their intercourse with the rest of mankind, that 
when foreigners venture within their boundaries for 
wrought and unwrought silk, and other valuable ar- 
ticles, they consider the price offered in silence, and 
transact their business without exchanging a word : 
a mode of traffic which is still practised in some 
eastern countries. How nearly this corresponds to 
the singularly immutable manners of the Chinese of 
the present age, is sufficiently obvious. 

But would we know what account the Chinese 
themselves give relative to the earliest introduction 
of the silk culture, we shall find it in the French ver- 
sion of the Chinese Treatises, by M. Stanislas Julien, 
or in the following words of p. 77 and 78, as trans- 
lated and published in 1838, at Washington, under 
the title of "Summary* of the principal Chinese 
Treatises upon the Culture of the Mulberry, and the 
rearing of Silk Worms." 

" In the book on silk worms we read — the lawful 
wife of the emperor Hoang-ti, named Si-ling-chi, 
began the culture of silk. It was at that time that 
the emperor Hoang-ti invented the art of making 
garments." 

" Observations by the Translator. — The same fact 
is mentioned more in detail in the general history of 
China, by P. Mailla, in the year 2602t before our 
era, (4438 years ago.)" 

* " This Summary was first translated from the Chinese, by M. Stan- 
islas Julien, member of the French Institute, and Professor of Chinese 
Literature in the College of France, and printed at the royal press in 
Paris by order of the minister of public works, agriculture, and com- 
merce. The French copy from which this translation was made, was 
transmitted from Paris to the secretary of state, and by his recommen- 
dation has been translated and published at Washington." 

-J- Not 2700 a. c. as commonly repeated. 



34 



HISTORY OF SILK. 



"This great prince, Hoang-ti, was desirous that 
Si-ling-chi, his legitimate wife, should contribute to 
the happiness of his people. He charged her to ex- 
amine the silk worms, and to test the practicability 
of using the thread. Si-ling-chi had a large quantity 
of these insects collected, which she fed herself, in a 
place prepared solely for that purpose, and discovered 
not only the means of raising them, but also the 
manner of reeling the silk, and of employing it to 
make garments." 

"It is through gratitude for so great a benefit," says 
the history, entitled Wai-ki, "that posterity has deified 
Si-ling-chi, and rendered her particular honours un- 
der the name of the goddess of silk worms* (Me- 
moirs on the Chinese, vol. 13, p. 240.)" 



* Whatever of these extracts is important we shall, in the notes, in- 
troduce, in the proper place ; and take this opportunity to observe, once 
for all, that no doubt to many the Chinese prescriptions will frequently 
appear to be blended with superstition, or with what we should have 
thought too trifling for the sense and science of a people of 4000 years. 
But since M. Camille Beauvais's well known enthusiasm for the intro- 
duction of improvement in the culture of the mulberry and rearing of 
silk worms has led him to commend, in almost unqualified terms, what- 
ever the Chinese say on the subject, we shall, wherever occasion re- 
quires, introduce their rules as we find them, leaving it to the reader's 
judgment and experience to determine what is unnecessary. 

On this subject, we quote as fellows from the preface to the American 
edition. " Notwithstanding the superiority of the French in the arts 
and sciences, and length of time which has elapsed since the introduction 
of the manufacture of silk into France, (in the reign of Francis I.,) the 
fact of the great superiority of the Chinese culture is frankly admitted 
by M. Camille Beauvais, the gentleman at whose instance the French 
minister directed the translation to be made from the Chinese works. 
Such is the strength of his testimony on this point, that he asserts, 

"THE CHINESE LOSE IN THE REARING SCARCELY ONE PER CENT. OF 
THEIR WORMS, WHEREAS THE FRENCH LOSE MORE THAN FIFTY !" 

" Some minds, influenced by ancient traditions," says M. Beauvais, 
"will perhaps consider this multitude of trifling attentions, which the 
Chinese lavish upon the silk worms as childish ; others will only see 
some proceedings little different from theirs in appearance, or will say, 
that they may be proper to the climate of China, and not applicable in 
ours. But time and experience will, I hope, cause these natural 
methods, these delicate attentions, these wise and multiplied precau- 
tions, the Chinese authors recommend to be appreciated at their just 
value." 



HISTORY OF SILK. 35 

We have here an example of the good sense, which, 
in this respect at least, the Chinese have evinced not 
only in primeval but also in subsequent times. The 
attention of the " powers that be," do not seem there 

After this explanation we shall add the most important points from 
the translation of these Chinese works now before us. 

" It is written in the Book on Worms," one of the five canonical 
books, chapter Pin-fong, Ode I., "In the month when the silk worms 
are fed (fourth month) the leaves of the mulberry trees must be ga- 
thered." 'This chapter was composed by Tcheou-kong, uncle to the 
emperor Tching-wang, 1115 years before our era.' — St. Julien. 

" We read in the Li-ki, or book of Ceremonies, one of the five cano- 
nical books, in the chapter Youei-sing : 

1 In the last spring month, the young empress purifies herself, and 
off era a sacrifice to the goddess of silk worms,' (very important !) ' She 
goes to the fields, situated to the east, and gathers mulberry leaves her- 
self. She forbids the noble ladies and ministers' wives all ornamental 
dress, who sew and embroider, so that they may be able to give all then- 
attention to the raising of silk worms.' 

" The Li-ki, or book of Rites, from which this passage has been ex- 
tracted, was compiled by Confucius, whose birth was 551 b. c." 

" In the work entitled Nong-sang-thong-kioue, we read : 

' The place called kien-kouan, (or the house of cocoons,) is that 
where the empress herself raises silk worms. In ancient times, there 
was a plantation of mulberry trees, belonging to the state, and a build- 
ing called Tsan-chi, (or the house of the silk worms,) which had the 
same destination, which is now designated kien-kouan, viz. the house 
of cocoons. 

' The young empress purifies herself, and offers a sacrifice to the god- 
dess of the silk worms, as an example to the whole empire, and to pro- 
mote the general culture of silk. The empress repairs to a mulberry 
plantation. She first cuts a branch ,■ an attendant who holds a basket, 
receives the leaves ; afterwards the empress cuts three branches. A 
maid of honour, endowed with the title of Chang-chou, (or president,) 
throws herself on her knees, and sai/s, it is enough.'' (Does M. Beau- 
vais wish all this to be attended to !) It is forbidden to carry the leaves 
to that part of the palace called Ken-chi, or golden house." 

" The author of the work entitled Nong-song-thong-kioue continues 
to quote some analogous facts, which he had gathered from the history 
of the emperors, from the years of Thien-pao, 968, of the dynasty of 
Song, under which he lived, so as to show, that from the highest an- 
tiquity, the empress raised silk worms as an example to the whole em- 
pire." 

" In the work entitled Tsan-lun, or Considerations on the silk worm, 
we notice : 

" Every species of tree requires a particular soil, except the mulberry 
tree alone, which grows everywhere, and consequently there is not a 
single place in the empire where silk worms cannot be raised." 



36 HISTORY OF SILK. 

so much directed either to support and extend society 
in an artificial condition, or in political wrangling and 
intrigue ; but in the promotion of that natural and 
salutary state, which can only be maintained by a 
due proportion between production and consumption, 
especially in reference to every agricultural depart- 
ment. And, therefore, in this, the productive class is 
encouraged by imperial or royal sanction and patron- 
age. We have, therefore, before us, an historical 
demonstration of the felicitous consequences of such 
a polity : whilst it has in all ages of that vast empire 
contributed to the comfort and consequent peace and 
content of the many millions subject to its government, 
it has by the same means combined the immense plains 
of Chinese interests into one consolidated system of 
independence and wealth. 

This policy, found profitable at first, was continued 
through a succession of generations too numerous for 
even history to comprise; and royal sanction and 
patronage were perpetuated through a long line of 
the empresses of 4000 years. The fair sex of all ranks 
did not fail, under such fostering auspices, to copy a 
precedent at once honourable in its character and 
profitable to themselves. The example of encou- 
raging domestic industry was shown by the emperor 
and princes, mandarins, courtiers, and all orders be- 
came clothed in silk. Thus China, at an early period, 
was in possession "of a secret that European nations 
have not learned to this day: that the full encourage- 
ment of home produce and manufacture is of far 
greater consequence than foreign trade. 

Such is the wise and steady course that has been 

This seems confirmed, since in the same notes we find the following 
provinces of China where silk is raised, viz. Si-gan-fou, which is now 
the capital of the present provinces of Chen-si, Honan, Chan-si, Hou- 
nan, Chan-tong, Hou-kouang, Sse-tchouen. There are similar short 
and detached historical notices relative to the years 163 b. c, 156 b. c, 
48 b. c, 58 a. d., 220 a. d., 265 and 275 a. n., 454 and 457 a. d., but 
none of them contain any thing important to Americans or new or un- 
known, as to the culture, to moderns, except auch peculiarities as we 
have already specified. 



HISTORY OF SILK. 37 

exemplified and transmitted from emperor to emperor, 
and from empress to empress. It seems to declare 
to the world that the permanency of nations cannot 
exist, except where the interest of the government 
and that of the people is such as to be identical. It 
is not the theory of a political economist, but an ex- 
periment that has been tested by centuries. For its 
verity time himself has been appealed to, and has 
given a verdict that is a salutary lesson to those that 
have neglected it. Its utility and profit to the indi- 
vidual and to the nation have been too reciprocal to 
require distinction, and as changeless as the necessities 
of man. 

A state occupied in the pursuits of war, or in inter- 
national feuds and distraction, is embarked in the 
career of national hazard and popular suffering. But 
the emperor, prince, or government, monarchical or 
republican, that smiles on the amenities of peace, by 
extending its fostering energies collaterally with the 
wants of man, and encourages production proportion- 
ate to necessity, adopts a policy which has the highest 
claim of any thing secular to perpetuity. Thus an 
adequate impetus is given to industry; national broils 
are merged in the prospect of domestic comfort, and 
dissatisfaction is exchanged for contentment; salutary 
habits are instituted ; new prospects are introduced 
and urged ; and reciprocal interests are national 
sinews. To promote this, a spring is bent of imperial 
steel : and what is the consequence ? The mulberry, 
the orchard, the plantation, and even the very insects 
are put in requisition. An easy, a pleasant, and a 
profitable mode of employment is established suit- 
able to all ranks, all ages, and constitutions. In 
this, industry becomes nobility and imparts it. 
The emperors, the empresses, princes, mandarins, 
courtiers, the affluent, the learned, all, were in the 
ranks. National and home wants were supplied; 
commerce lends her wings; ships and caravans 
moved; oceans and seas gave their aid, and deserts 
looked gay ; solitudes, if not made to blossom, were 

4 



38 HISTORY OF SILK. 

seen to smile ; the Parthians, the Hindoos, the Per- 
sees, the Arabs, the Syrians, the Phoenicians, were 
converting the wastes of Asia into the panorama of 
activity: all western tribes were seen in travelling 
communities, and the "wealth of the Indies' 5 became 
a proverb current as far as the shores of Colombia. 
Thus China has stood as a monument, with the age 
and firmness of a pyramid, to testify to the world, 
that whilst many states have felt the alternate favours 
and caprice of fortune, or have fallen as suddenly as 
they rose in the scale of nations, she, by pursuing a 
policy differing from all, has stood the test of 4000 
years. 

This career of industry and domestic production 
found so beneficial at first, is continued to the present. 
By adverting to the preface of the Washington edition 
of the Summary we have mentioned, we read that, 
" the egg of this insect exceeds not the size of a grain 
of mustard seed, yet so amazing are the results, that 
the proceeds of its industry actually constitute the 
chief source of wealth to the most populous, and per- 
haps the richest nation of the globe. In the language 
of a French writer, ' If the cocoons in China were 
collected together they would form mountains/ The 
two provinces of Nanking and Chakiang, alone send 
every year to the court three hundred and sixty-five 
barks laden not only with pieces of wrought silk, 
satins, and velvets of various kinds and colours, but 
even with rich and costly garments of the same ma- 
terial." If two provinces, only, annually send this 
quantity, and that merely to the court, what all the 
provinces transmit not only for national consumption, 
but to the other parts of Asia, and to the rest of the 
world, we may conjecture, but cannot estimate.* 



* The singular mode by which weaving or the manufacture of silk 
fabrics is conducted in some parts of China, is thus narrated at page 18 
of vol. 1, of the Silk Culturist. 

" Silk looms in Europe are of the most simple construction, but when 
contrasted with the contrivances in India, would seem to give them a 
decided advantage. In India, the weaver weaves his web in the open 



HISTORY OP SILK. 39 

It is a singular mystery attached to the history of 
the culture of silk, "that before silk worms were 
brought to Constantinople, in the middle of the sixth 
century, no person in that capital/' nor apparently 
beyond the precincts of China, " knew that silk was 
produced by a worm."* Notwithstanding this, not 
only were silk fabrics transmitted to distant nations, 
but also the raw material, which employed manufac- 
tories in Persia, Tyre, Berytus, and in Cos, an island 
of the Archipelago. t It is obvious that had the use 

air. He first selects a station for his work, generally under a tree, that 
its foliage may protect him from the scorching rays of the sun. He 
then extends the threads which compose the warp of his intended fabric 
lengthwise between two bamboo rollers, which are fastened to the ground 
by means of wooden pins. He then digs a hole in the earth large 
enough to contain his legs in a sitting posture. He next attaches to a 
limb of the tree, the cords by which his harness is to be worked, and 
to the lower shafts of the harness cords with loops of sufficient size to 
admit the insertion of his great toes. With his web thus arranged, he 
is prepared to commence weaving. This he does by putting his toe 
into the loop of the cord attached to that part of the harness which he 
wishes to tread down, and then with a shuttle introduces the woof and 
beats up by striking the threads of the woof with the shuttle instead of 
a batten. The shuttle is in the form of a netting needle, and longer 
than the breadth of the web. With this rude apparatus he manufac- 
tures a fabric of which an Italian silk weaver would be proud. If the 
silk manufacture in China is so simple, and is so easily performed with- 
out the aid of complicated machinery, can it not be successfully prose- 
cuted in a country abounding in machinists, with ingenuity to invent, 
and skill to execute the most perfect machinery in the world 1 

* Theophanes and Zonaras, the Byzantine historians quoted by Dr. 
Lardner. 

j- Chateaubriand, in his travels, speaking of the isle of Zea, says, its 
present commerce are acorns and silk. " The silk gauze worn by the 
ancients was invented at Ceos," the ancient name of Zea. " The poets, 
to convey an idea of its fineness and transparency, called it woven wind. 
7ie& still furnishes silk." "The women of Zea," says Tournefort, 
" generally assemble in companies to spin silk, and they seat themselves 
on the edge of the terraces at the top of the houses, that they may drop 
the spindle down to the street, and draw it vrp again as they wind the 
thread. In this attitude we found the Greek bishop : he inquired who 
we were, and told us that our occupations were extremely frivolous, if 
we came only to look for plants and old pieces of marble. We replied, 
that we should be much more edified to see him with the works of St. 
Chrysostom and St. Basil in his hand, than twirling the spindle." 

The island of Zea or Ceos and Cos have been confounded ; the latter 
is 200 miles from the», former up the Levant. Tibullus, Horace, and 



40 HISTORY OF SILK. 

of the silk worm been known at that island, the source 
from which silk is derived would also have been 
known at Byzantium. It is at the island of Cos, 
however, that not only the manufacture of silk is 
reported to have been first known in the west, but of 
a peculiar species of it. Pamphila is reputed to have 
been the inventress. According to the testimony of 
Aristotle, bombykia* was respun and rewoven at 
this island. The imported fabric seems to have been 
so costly as to form an inducement to Pamphila and 
her associates to unweave the precious webs in order 
to convert the substantial stuffs of Serica into a more 
extended surface, or into a thin transparent gauze ; 
and thus to gain in measure what was lost in sub- 
stance. This Pamphilan expedient was subsequently 
imitated by the Roman ladies, amongst whom the 
foreign article seemed to have been one of increased 
value, since it was the chains only of their rewoven 
fabrics that were allowed to be of silk, the interstices 
being filled up with linen or cotton, constituting a 
sort of half silk stuffs. Yet, though the more costly 
material of the mixture was thus attenuated, it did 
not prevent the subsequent outcry against it, as too 
extravagant an article for dress. 

For centuries Persia seems to have enjoyed the 
monopoly of the trade with India and China; though, 
in later times, it is reported, that caravans were pass- 
ing direct from the coasts of China to Syria, occupy- 
ing a period of two hundred and forty-three days in 
the transit; whence the wealth of the Indies was 
further transmitted by Arabs and Phoenicians to more 
western parts. Notwithstanding all this intercourse, 
and the curiosity that interest must naturally have 
excited relative to the origin of silk, yet it appears, 
through that finesse and subtle policy, which consti- 

others make Cos, and not Ceos, the place where silk gauze was an- 
ciently manufactured ; but common opinion is in favour of Ceos, and 
the fact that the business is still carried on at the latter place to a con- 
siderable extent is strongly in its favour. 

* The fabric produced from the Bombyx, or silk worm. 



HISTORY OP SILK. 41 

tute the national characteristic of the Chinese to the 
present day, the western part of Asia, and Europe, 
were kept in profound ignorance on this important 
topic, until the secret was elicited by stratagem in the 
sixth century. Notwithstanding the contumely with 
which the character of Aristotle has been treated by 
those who never either read him, or were disposed to 
make candid allowance for the comparative darkness 
of the times in which he lived, he appears, in the in- 
vestigation of truth, even as to the silk worm, to have 
been on the advance, not only of his cotemporaries, 
but, for 800 years, of those that succeeded him. 
It was fortunate for philosophy that his influence, as 
a preceptor, was prevalent with Alexander. In con- 
formity to his advice, he took out with him, on his 
Asiatic expedition, 1000 men, whose exclusive com- 
mission was to make collections in the several depart- 
ments of zoology, and to transmit them, from time 
to time, to the Grecian naturalist : to which were 
added, on the return* of the victorious army of Alex- 
ander, amongst other eastern luxuries, wrought silks 
from Persia. Aristotle, therefore, seems to have been 
thus enabled to give, though without naming the 
country of its origin, the most accurate account of the 
silk worm, describing it as a horned insect, passing 
through successive transformations and producing 
bombykia. 

Neither does Pliny seem to have been unacquainted 
with the silk worm, though his description differs 
materially from that of the Grecian philosopher; but 
of its use he evinces a total ignorance, since he affirms 
that the fabrics unravelled and rewoven by the Ro- 
man ladies, were the proceed of a woolly substance 
combed from the leaves of trees to form the draperies 
made and exported by the Seres. Assyria,! however, 

* a. m. 3678. e. c. 326. 

■j- Justin relates that Sardanapalus (a. m. 778) emperor of Assyria, 
never left his palace, but spent his time with women and eunuchs 
spinning with them at the distaff. Had it not been for the late period, 
when the use of the mulberry and silk worm was known at Constan- 

4* 



42 HISTORY OF SILK. 

he assigns as the country indigenous to the insect he 
describes, and names Ceos (not Cos) an island of the 
iEgean sea, as the seat of Pamphila, and the singu- 
lar manufacture of which she was the inventress. 

With the exception of the two naturalists already- 
mentioned, ancient writers,* for nearly nine centuries, 
not only evince complete ignorance relative to the 
origin of silk, but also betray the most crude concep- 
tions as to its production. At one time it was ima- 
gined that Sericum was made either from fleeces 
growing upon trees,! or from bark, or flowers; at 
another that the silken filament % was the proceed of 
a species of spider or beetle. A strong interest must 
have existed somewhere to have kept the whole of 
this a secret ; and persevering, indefatigable, and vigi- 
lant must have been the policy to have maintained it 
such for so many centuries. Here we see a trait of 
the Chinese, in which they stand unequalled, and 
without a parallel in any other nation. 

This, together with other circumstances, will enable 
us, in some degree, to account for the extreme scarcity, 
for many centuries, of silk in Europe. So costly was 
this article of luxury, that all knowledge of it was 
chiefly confined to Rome, or to other cities of princely 

tinople, charity, aided by this account of Pliny, would have inclined us 
to attribute that as a virtue to this monarch, especially when his age at 
the time is considered, which has been commonly imputed as a vice ; or 
to suppose that he and his attendants were engaged at that period, on 
the banks of the Tigris, in the laudable pursuit of producing silk ; and, 
therefore, not suited to the military taste of Arbaces governor of Media, 
and affording an opportunity to the rapacity of Belesis, governor of 
Babylon. 

* Nearchus, Aristobulus, Theophrastus, Virgil, Dionysius, Periegetes, 
Seneca, Arrian, Solinus, Ammianus Marcellinus, Claudian, Jerome, &c. 

j- " Vellera ut foliis depectant tenuia Seres." — Virgil. 

| " I have long entertained the idea that the golden fleece which 
Jason carried from Colchis, was a cargo, or perhaps only a skein of rich 
golden coloured raw silk in the hank, which might figuratively be termed 
a fleece, because it was to be twisted into thread and interwoven into 
cloth. This at least is as plausible as the commonly received solu- 
tion admitted by a celebrated historian not prone to credulity." — Note 
to Martin's Translation of the Travels of Marco Polo, quoted by Dr. 
Lardner. 



HISTORY OF SILK. 43 

residence. Before the reign of Augustus,* there is 
little or no mention of it ; and its use, in that of Ti- 
berius,! was restricted by sumptuary laws to women 
of rank and fashion. Though this prohibition did 
not, in summer, apply to the use of the lighter fabrics 
of Cos by the men; yet their extreme tenuity or 
transparency, as an article of apparel, whether worn 
by men or women, met the frowns, though with but 
partial success, of the Roman satirists^ for more than 
a century. § 

Rome was at this time rapidly increasing in wealth, 
and therefore in luxury. The demand for silk, as a 
consequence, was no longer commensurate with the 
scanty supply, and the price became exorbitant. To 
obtain relief, or a more direct commercial communi- 
cation, an embassy, by way of Egypt and India, was 
sent, in the second century, by Marcus Antoninus. || 
The Chinese annals testify, that the changeless polity 
of that country treated then, with the same reserve, 
as it does now, all applications for foreign intercourse, 
except through channels of long and tried fidelity. 
The Persians, therefore, retained for centuries the 
Indian monopoly, and their caravans laden with its 
wealth traversed the wilds of Asia from the Celestial 
Empire to the shores of Syria. 

Had we no other proof that this state of things, for 
some time, continued on the increase, that relative to 
the Syrian voluptuary Heliogabalus,1F would be suf- 
ficient ; of whose extravagance, after the Roman 
writers have mentioned the particulars, they add, as 
a climax in the list of his criminality, that he wore a 
holosericum, or a garment altogether made of silk. 

It is added likewise as a further proof to the same 

* B. C. 31. f A. D. 14. 

i Publius Syrus, Varro, Tibullus, Propertius, Horace, Seneca, Pliny, 
and Juvenal. Pliny, 1. xi. c. 23. Tacit. Ann. 1. ii. c. 32. 

§ According to the testimony of different writers, silk was not un- 
frequently seen at Rome as early as in the reign of Tiberius, a. d. 17. 
Galen, a. d. 173, mentions that the scarcity of silk was such that it 
could be worn only by the rich. 

1 a. n. 177. 1 a. d. 222. 



44 HISTORY OP SILK. 

purpose, that Aurelian* assigned as a reason for his 
refusing his empress a similar luxury, that its cost 
would be equal to its weight in gold. 

It is easy to perceive the advantage which this 
passion for dress, that, of course, accompanied the 
Romans to Constantinople, offered to the Persians, at 
that time in the unimpaired possession of their mono- 
poly. Neither was it without a liability to disap- 
pointment to the Romans on the one hand, and to the 
final loss of the trade to the Persians on the other. 
In availing themselves of the advantage, the latter, 
either by the exorbitant prices imposed by the mer- 
chant, or by the exactions of government, evinced 
that gross indiscretion which was ultimately destruc- 
tive to their interest. And to this, when there was 
added a war between the two countries, a different 
mode of procuring supplies, became, on more accounts 
than one, imperatively necessary. 

A war with the Persians occurring in the reign of 
Justinian induced that monarch to obtain supplies 
from a more eligible channel. Through a defi- 
ciency of the requisite experience and qualifications 
necessary for so difficult an undertaking, Elasbaan 
king of Axuma, and Esimiphaeus governor of the 
Homerites in Arabia, to whom, for this purpose, Justi- 
nian had made application, failed to fulfil their en- 
gagement; and silk,. in consequence, rose at Constan- 
tinople to a height before unknown. This, the par- 
tial supplies, usually afforded by the Phoenician 
manufacturers would have considerably relieved, had 
not Justinian with a blind rapacity, that, in his aim 
to augment the revenue, effectually defeated itself, 
imposed heavy duties on the importations, which 
became absolutely prohibitory. t In consequence the 
merchants were ruined, the scarcity of silk was equi- 
valent to absolute privation, and the failure of a 

* a. d. 273. 

j- The nominal price of silk per pound at this time, may be quoted 
as equivalent to 22*98, which, however, was but trifling to the real 
value, when the difference of the times is considered. 



HISTORY OP SILK. 45 

revenue whose increase was contemplated by Justi- 
nian, was a practical sarcasm on his avarice. 

Thus have we, in the history of silk, arrived at a 
very important and ever memorable crisis. Silk 
was produced even from the earliest ages, in regions 
congenial to its culture, where in consequence of the 
blessings it confers, the inhabitants proclaim them- 
selves celestial, but assiduously withhold all know- 
ledge from what the benefit is derived. An insect, 
as if in some land of enchantment, labours, spins, and 
dies; and without leaving itself even a sarcophagus, 
bequeaths its house, more valuable to man than the 
proud monuments of the Egyptian architect, its robe 
more golden than Jason's fleece, and all its estate, by 
the bale and cargo, to the men of Hesperian climes, 
who know not either of its existence, nor the mystery 
of its operations. The elegance of the fabrics is ad- 
mired by all ; Europe invites the commerce ; a diffi- 
culty unmanageable in the ordinary course of things 
occurs ; a crisis arrives ; the old epoch is closed, 
and a new era, most important in its history ar- 
rives. 

How frequently has relief come, not only at the 
moment of extremity, but by the most unexpected 
means. Justinian failed in his diplomatic application 
to the Arabian princes, as well as his predecessor had 
done at the Chinese court ; and his very attempt to 
force a trade was the means of its almost total ex- 
tinction. But how could it have been foreseen, that 
what emperors, ambassadors, and merchants failed 
to accomplish, would be effected by means so unlikely 
as by two comparatively obscure Nestorian monks ? 

The preachers of the doctrines of Nestor, exiled by 
the government of Byzantium, had fled to India ; 
and missions, convents, and bishoprics, by their pa- 
triarch resident in Persia, had been, according to the 
testimony of Cosmas, established in every direction. 
Two of the monks penetrated to the country of the 
Seres. With curious eye they had observed the dress 
of the Chinese; the manufactures of the silken fabric; 



46 HISTORY OF SILK. 

and the millions of insects, whose education was the 
labour of queens, converting the leaves of a tree into 
silk. All the manipulations requisite, from the em- 
bryo state of the little animal, to the production of 
the costly material, were marked with intense interest. 
The secret was out! two monks in possession of it — 
the knowledge to benefit myriads was entrusted to 
two — the perils in traversing a vast continent were 
yet to be encountered — a risk was to be incurred — 
no insurance was effected, but that of Providence : 
thus all was safe : and the two monks, our benefac- 
tors, bequeathed a mystery hid for ages, as a legacy 
to a western hemisphere. 

Aware of the solicitude of the Europeans on this 
subject, the monks repaired to Constantinople, and 
revealed to the emperor the secret that silk was pro- 
duced by insects whose eggs might be conveyed to 
his dominions. Were we to indulge in the conjecture 
what, most naturally on such a momentous occasion, 
was the passion chiefly excited in Justinian, at this 
important juncture, when a report, than which none 
could be more interesting to the secular concerns of 
man, was first announced to his ears, our charity 
might have inclined us to point to philanthropy, had 
we not ascertained the character of the man. With 
him, on several occasions, self was a universe, and 
all within it his minions, whose interests were to be 
consulted precisely to the point where they served 
his own. By the promise of a great reward, the 
monks were induced to return to China, elude the 
vigilance of that jealous people, obtain the eggs, and 
to confine within the narrow precincts of a hollow 
cane, what was subsequently to create machines and 
factories, fill warehouses and ships, and become in- 
exhaustable mines of wealth to nations. They suc- 
ceeded; and in the year 552, they were in Constan- 
tinople, and their cane, like Noah's ark, contained a 
family, whose posterity are now filling regions wider 
than those peopled, within the same time, by Shem, 
Ham, and Japheth. 



HISTORY OF SILK. 47 

"The insects thus produced," says Dr. Lardner, 
" were the progenitors of all the generations of silk 
worms, which have since been reared, in Europe, 
and the western parts of Asia ;"— to which we may 
now add, Africa and America — "of the countless 
myriads whose constant and successive labours are 
engaged in supplying a great and still increasing de- 
mand. A caneful of eggs thus became the means of 
establishing a manufacture which fashion and luxury 
had already rendered important, and of saving vast 
sums annually to European nations, which in this 
respect had been so long dependent on, and obliged 
to submit to, the exactions of their oriental neigh- 
bours."* 

No sooner is this new and interesting colony in 
Europe, than the avarice of Justinian seizes the cra- 
dle of the infant concern. His own treasurer had the 
control, the monks the direction, weavers brought 
from Tyre and Berytus were the creatures of the 
monopoly, and his became the prerogative to fix the 
price which his subjects should pay for the indulgence 
of their vanity. The price of silk, by this means, 
became eight times more expensive than before the 
introduction of the silk worm : an ounce weight of a 
fabric of common colours could not be purchased for 

* The authorities quoted, on the whole of this part of the subject, by 
Dr. Lardner are, Robertson's Disquisitions on the Commerce of India. 
D'Herbelot Biblioth. Orient, art. Harir. Procopius, Hist. Arcan ; and 
de Bello Gothico, 1. iv. c. 17, Theophan. Byzant. apud Photium. Theo- 
phylact. 1. viii. et apud Photium. Zonaras, vol. iii. p. 50, edit. 1557. 

" The eggs were hatched in the proper season by the warmth of 
manure, and the worms were fed with the leaves of the mulberry. In 
due time, they spun their silk, ^ind propagated under the careful atten- 
tion of the monks ; who also instructed the Romans in the whole pro- 
cess of manufacturing their production." — Id. 

In the Silk Grower for September, 1838, it is added, that the monks 
" brought with them minute instructions for hatching the eggs, rearing 
the worms, reeling, spinning, and weaving the silk. But they made but 
little improvement. Cocooneries were then unknown ; hurdles and 
other necessary conveniences not thought of. The worms fed on the 
ground, allowed to wind their balls amongst the rubbish of six weeks' 
collection ; and then reels were entirely useless, being too complicated 
to be used except by rich manufacturing companies." 



48 



HISTORY OF SILK. 



less than six pieces of gold, but the royal purple was 
of quadruple value. 

Fortunately for the public good, the oppressors of 
mankind live not for ever: Justinian died; and the 
monopoly ceased. The people of western Asia and 
Europeans discovered that neither the mulberry nor 
the silk worm, wanted either Chinese climes, or the . 
care of a Justinian to foster them. Mulberries were 
planted in all directions ; and the insects fell to work 
with haste as eager, as if they had never known that 
their ancestors had been silk worms royal to his 
highness Justinian. 

After the death of the emperor* we shall find the 
culture and manufacture of silk transferred to Greece, 
especially Peloponnesus, and to the cities of Athens, 
Thebes, and Corinth. Soon after the Venetians en- 
tered on commercial relations with the Grecian em- 
pire, and conducted the carrying trade, for several 
centuries, to the western parts of Europe. Such was 
the estimation in which this manufacture was then 
held, as appears from the example of Charlemagne 
in the year 790, sending two silken vests to Offa king 
of Mercia, that it was considered worthy of being 
made a regal gift. Greece, notwithstanding all dis- 
couragement consequent on the continued and rapid 
decline of the Roman empire, continued to excel all 
other nations of Europe in the quality of her manu- 
factures. She alone, for near 600 years, possessed 
the valuable breed of silk worms ; soon produced 
wroughtt silks adequate to her own consumption ; a 
recourse to Persia for a supply ceased, and a material 
change took place in the intercourse with India. 



* a. d. 565. 

■}- Modern silks, as velvets, damasks, and satin remained as yet un- 
known. 



HISTORY OF SILK. 49 



CHAPTER III. 

SUBSEQUENT HISTORY OF SILK, 

FROM THE PERIOD WHEN SILK WORMS WERE FIRST INTRODUCED 
INTO EUROPE, CONTINUED AS TO EACH NATION DISTINCTLY ; 
CHINA; ARABS, TARTARS, TURKS? TURKEY AND PERSIA? HIN- 
DOOSTAN; EGYPT. 

Having, in the preceding chapter, pursued our 
history until the time when silk worms were first in- 
troduced into Europe, and a manufacture commenced 
within the precincts of the Greek empire, we shall 
now, since the subject becomes more strongly marked 
and distinct, consider the sequel as to each nation 
singly, and resume our inquiries relative to China. 

The silk worms had arrived from India, and Gre- 
cian industry had been employed at a season not too 
early to render, by establishing new resources in the 
west, European admirers of the silken robe independ- 
ent of oriental supplies : for when Canfu, the Chinese 
port for the resort of foreign merchants, fell, in the 
year 877, into the hands of the savage rebel Baichu, 
he not only massacred all the inhabitants, amongst 
whom, it is reported, there were 120,000 merchants, 
comprising Mohammedans, Jews, Christians, and 
Persees, but also extended his cruelty to the very 
insects on whose productions the natives depended, 
destroyed the trees necessary to their existence, and 
in addition, imposed such exactions on foreign inter- 
course, that the Chinese trade, for threescore years, 
seems to have been completely annihilated. And it 
did not recover, according to the testimony of Mas- 
soudi, from the infernal tempest of this eastern maniac, 
until 938, when Canfu once more became a place of 
mercantile resort. 

5 



50 HISTORY OF SILK. 

The Venetian nobleman and celebrated traveller, 
Marco Polo, at the close of the thirteenth century, 
gave to the world one of the most interesting accounts 
which the middle ages produced, in which he fur- 
nishes a narrative of his travels in the Celestial Em- 
pire, and over the Asiatic interior. " No fewer," he 
says, "than 1000 carriages and pack horses, loaded 
with raw silk, make their daily entry into the city ;* 
and silks of various textures are manufactured to an 
immense extent." Great, rich, and crowded cities, 
filled with manufacturers of silk and merchandise, 
covered the whole extent of China.t 

We are all aware that climate is a matter of first 
importance, in the growth of the mulberry, and in 
the raising of silk. In this respect, it is evident, that 
China is particularly favoured, when it is considered, 
that the latitude of her metropolis, Peking, 39° 54', 
about 3 miles more to the south than Philadelphia, 
may be quoted, being within 100 miles of the great 
wall, as the northern extremity of her silk growing 
country, which thence extends to the south as far as 
to the 20th parallel of north latitude. But it is in 
her central provinces, between the 25th and 35th de- 
grees of latitude that the greater part of the silk is 
produced. 

* Cambalu, then the name for the royal city. 

•j- " According to Cosn'ias, the Indians who traded with the Chinese, 
were accustomed to resort to Ceylon, where alone they received silks, 
spices, and other valuable productions, which were thence distributed 
among the different marts of India. Gibbon, in the fifth volume of the 
' Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire,' thus describes the mode of 
prosecuting this commerce : ' The Chinese and Indian navigators were 
conducted by the flight of birds, and periodical winds, and the ocean 
might be securely traversed in square built ships, which, instead of iron, 
were sewed together with the strong thread of the cocoa nut. Ceylon, 
Serendip, or Taprobana, were divided between two hostile princes ; one 
of whom possessed the mountains, the elephants, and the luminous car- 
buncle ; and the other enjoyed the more sordid riches of domestic in- 
dustry, foreign trade, and the capacious harbour of Trinquemale, which 
received and dismissed the fleets of the east and west. In this hospita- 
ble isle, at an equal distance from their respective countries, the silk 
merchants of China, who had collected in their voyages, aloes, cloves, 
nutmegs, and sandal wood, maintained a free and beneficial commerce 
with the inhabitants of the Persian Gulf.' " — Dr. Lardner, p. 256, note I. 



HISTORY OF SILK. 51 

It is also well known that an accurate estimate of 
temperature cannot always be made by inferring the 
climate of one place from that of another of the same 
latitude on a different meridian, without referring to 
the isothermal* lines. The eastern shore of North 
America, is, in this respect, so similarly situated to 
the same shore of the Asiatic continent, that the mean 
annual temperature of any given degree of latitude 
on our Atlantic shores, will be found very nearly to 
correspond with the mean annual temperature of the 
same degree of latitude in China near the Pacific. 
China also, in point of extent of surface and territory- 
very much resembling those of the United States, it 
is evident that we, of all nations under the sun, have 
the greatest chance to equal that eminent nation as 
to the golden fleece. Nature has done all she could 
do for us, in this respect ; will a sound policy and a 
salutary government effect the rest ? 

In the Washington version of M. Julien's Transla- 
tion of the Summary already mentioned, a note is 
given from M. E. Biot on this subject, as it refers to the 
temperature of this vast country not inaptly termed the 
silk empire; a name of some importance to us should 
we, so similarly circumstanced, become silk empire 
the second. That part of the note which refers to 
isothermal relations, as in this respect the United 
States are correlative to China, it is unnecessary to 
quote ; but all that we have found in M. Biot's re- 
marks, said to be derived from the observations of 
La Perouse, Amyot, Lord Amherst, and missionaries 
long resident there, on the subject of mean tempera- 
tures, we have reduced from the ratio of the centi- 
grade to that of Fahrenheit, as stated in the follow- 
ing table. 



* Or lines of equal temperatures in different latitudes of the same 
hemisphere. A variation effected chiefly by the prevalence of north- 
westerly wind, sweeping the chilling blasts of frozen plains on the north 
of large continents to their eastern shores. So that the western extre- 
mity of an isothermal line will be from 10 to 15 degrees more to the 
north, than the eastern extremity on the same continent. 



52 



HISTORY OP SILK. 



MEAN TEMPERATURES IN CHINA. 


North 
Latitude. 


Cities. 


Mean 

Temperature 

of the 

warmest 

month. 


Mean 
Temperature 
of the year. 


Mean 
Temperature 
of the 
coldest 
month. 


39° 54' 
32° 45' 
23° 8' 
22° 12' 


Peking 

Nangasaki 

Canton 

Macao 


84-3 
86-9 


54-8 
60-7 
73-2 
74-0 


39-2* 
43-7 

59-5 



We regret that the testimonies adduced do not en- 
able us to fill our columns, and prefer leaving the 
blanks for the reader to supply from authentic docu- 
ments. 

As a further proof that any latitude in the United 
States is nearly isothermal with the same latitude in 

* Some error is suspected here. "The summer at Peking," says 

the note, " is like that of Naples, whilst the mean temperature of the 

coldest month is 4° ; and the thermometer remains there for 3 months 

below zero." Now M. Biot's temperatures are those of the centigrade, 

4 y 9 
.-.— — [-32=39° 2' of Fahrenheit, the mean temperature of the 

coldest month, which is such that it is not likely to be for 3 months 
below zero. Yet there is no observable discrepancy between that mean, 
and that of the same month at Nangasaki, the difference of latitude 
considered. 

We further extract from M. Biot's note as follows. "In 1820, at 
Timkowski, in Mongolia,, in 40° to 45° of latitude," (same as from the 
latitude of Philadelphia to that of the southern part of Maine,) " in the 
month of October and November, the thermometer descended from 10° 
to 15° below zero=18° to 27° of Fahrenheit." A French missionary 
established in 1833 in East Tartary, at Si-wang, in 41° 39' of latitude, 
relates extraordinary differences between the temperature of summer 
and winter. According to him the thermometer rises to 37° 5' centi- 
grades in summer (99-5 Fahrenheit) and descends to 37-5 below zero 
in winter, (67-5 Fahrenheit.) " During this last season," say the An- 
nals of the Propagation of Faith, Nos. 40 and 50, " spirits of wine 
only remain liquid ; and when a metal is touched with moist hands, the 
epidermis of the fingers remains attached thereto." In conclusion, a 
useful remark on the temperature of the central provinces is furnished 
us by a misssionary who has lived 10 years in China, and which limits 
the cultivation of the orange to the 30th degree of latitude," (corres- 
ponding to our oranges at St. Augustin, in Florida, latitude also 30°,) 
" while in Provence, (France,) we have oranges as high as the 43d 



HISTORY OF SILK. 



53 



China on a meridian equidistant from the eastern 
shore, and that for any season of the year, we shall 
further quote the following examples. Philadelphia 
is in the same latitude as Peking, and nearly equi- 
distant from an eastern sea. The mean annual tem- 
perature of the former is 53*7; of the latter 54-8. At 
Nangasaki, latitude 32° 45', and at Augusta in 
Georgia, nearly in the same parallel, and as near the 
eastern sea as any place of that latitude in the United 
States of which we have any thermometrical record, 
the comparison may be stated as follows : 



North 
latitude. 



Cities. 


Where. 


Mean 

Temperature 

of the 

warmest 

month. 


Mean 
Temperature 
of the year. 


Mean 
Temperature 
of the 
coldest 
month. 


Nangasaki 
Augusta .... 


Kiusu 
U. S. 


86-9 
83-0 


60-7 
67-0 


43-7 
46-0 



32° 45' 

32° 35' 



The differences being slight are referable to local 
causes. This, however, is sufficient to show the 
striking resemblance of the climates of the two coun- 
tries. The subject is important: China long has been 
the first silk growing country in the world; our fa- 
vours in point of climate are equal; in other respects 
greater; and, therefore, whatever the Chinese can 
effect, we can accomplish likewise. We further learn, 
that the raising of silk worms, commences there in 
April, when the air is sufficiently warm; though in 
the more northern provinces, the development is 
aided artificially by heat. The cold in winter in 
these provinces seems very rigorous, yet the mulber- 
ries do not freeze. 

Du Halde says, "Everybody knows the abundance 
and beauty of the silk made throughout China/' Dr. 
Lardner adds, " the ancients showed their knowledge 
of this abundance, when they called it the kingdom 
of silk; and the moderns know it from experience. 
For many nations both of Asia and Europe draw 

5* 



54 HISTORY OF SILK. 

from it the superabundance of its produce; and every 
year, ships and caravans leave the country, laden 
with vast quantities of the wrought and unwrought 
material. Yet although thus lavishly sent forth, still, 
such is the amount, produced, that silken fabrics, either 
of the simple material, or mixed with gold or silver, 
are consumed throughout the empire to an almost, 
incredible amount. To this evidence may be added 
the many hundred thousand pounds of wrought and 
unwrought silk which the provinces annually pay as 
tribute to the emperor." 

The largest quantity of silk in China is produced 
about the neighbourhood of Nan-king, or the latitude 
of 32°. The production of silk furnishes in that em- 
pire employment to a greater number of individuals 
than any other avocation. England imports a vast 
quantity of both raw and wrought silks from China. 
The amount of the latter kind, being brought by the 
East India Company's ships, is not known. But of 
raw silk only from China, England imported in the 
year 1829, 600,000 pound's weight. Dr. Lardner 
observes, that "fourteen thousand millions of ani- 
mated creatures annually live and die to supply this 
little corner of the world (England) with this article 
of luxury ! If astonishment be excited at the fact, let 
us extend our view to China, and survey the dense 
population of its widely spread region, a population 
that from the emperor on his throne to the peasant 
in the lowly hut, are indebted for their clothing to 
the labours of the silk worm !" 

Thus the home trade of China is encouraged, and 
rendered efficient, whatever may become of the foreign. 
If the home trade is encouraged, consumption is sup- 
ported ; in which case it is evident, that the means of 
the artisan and operatives of all kinds, the most nu- 
merous class, enable them to obtain not only the 
necessaries of life, (agricultural production,) but also 
proper conveniences, (manufactured products.) If 
vital and healthy action be given to consumption to 



HISTORY OP SILK. 55 

this extent, it will encourage production to a degree 
such that foreign trade will be nearly a national 
luxury, or something not essential to existence. 
Should this take place amongst a people whose 
diversified climates and soils may be termed om- 
niferous, capable of bearing all things, (like ours, 
a blessing we scarcely yet have learnt) it places their 
nation in the predicament of the independent indivi- 
dual, who spares a redundant article, merely because 
he does not want it; though on the other hand it is 
no inconvenience to keep it. Consequently he is in- 
different, like the Chinese, either way ; or, if he has 
a choice, he prefers that course which brings in specie 
instead of taking it out. 

To be independent, as far as possible of foreign 
supplies; or, in other words, to have, of products, 
more to give than it is necessary to receive, except 
in hard cash, is a desideratum to nations : the true 
Mexico. And wherever practicable, (as with us, if 
we knew it,) will illustrate a sound and salutary 
principle in political economy. A nation that can 
have all her resources within herself, and adopts the 
policy to encourage home consumption to the utmost 
extent of her productive energies, proportioned to that 
consumption, lays the firmest foundation, so far as 
secular principles go, of her own permanent stability 
and independence. 

ARABS, TARTARS, TURKS. 

The introduction of the silk worms, and the conse- 
quent manufacture in Europe, produced a consider- 
able impression on the demand for silks from China, 
which was increased by political changes then rapidly 
taking place in Asia. But notwithstanding the in- 
terruption of the caravans, and diminution of trade, 
in the sixth century, between China and Persia, in 
consequence of the establishment of the Turkish 
power, we have a proof, in what manner the Per- 
sians appreciated the value of what remains of their 



56 HISTORY OP SILK. 

Chinese intercourse was left to them, in the example 
of the Sogdian* ambassador, sent by the Turks to 
Chosroes king of Persia. He took with him many 
bales of silk for sale, and requested that the Sogdians, 
then subject to the Turks, might be allowed to supply 
the Persians with silk. Chosroes having bought the 
bales, immediately consumed them by fire, as the 
only answer to the request: an argument that needed 
neither mood nor figure in logic to prove to the am- 
bassador that the king thought that a direct convey- 
ance by the Persian Gulf would be more beneficial 
to his subjects than to give up the trade to foreign 
carriers. 

The Arabs or Saracens, Tartars and Turks, all in 
their turns, participated, not in the producing, but in 
the carrying, of the silken fleece. On this account it 
is, as well because of their nomadic habits, that we 
see them not in the orchard or plantation, nor in any 
fixed position, but in the desert or at the caravan, as 
distant objects in the horizon that appear for a while 
and vanish. We therefore look for a new order of 
things, which we now find in 

TURKEY AND PERSIA. 

"Turkey supplies England," says Dr. Lardner, 
"with a considerable quantity of raw silk. Our im- 
ports from that country average more than 300,000 
pound's weight annually. It is brought to us from 
Aleppo, Tripoli, Sayda, &c. but Smyrna is the prin- 
cipal port of commerce, especially for the silk of 
Persia, which forms a great part of that which is im- 
ported from Turkey. The silks of Persia are brought 
to Smyrna in caravans during part of the year, i. e. 
from January to September. The caravans dispatched 
in January are laden with the finest silk, and the 
quality is found to deteriorate with each following 
month.t The silk of Persia comes chiefly from the 

* Ancient Sogdia was on the banks of the river Sogd, which now 
washes Samarcand. 

f They produce silk in Persia by successive monthly crops. 



HISTORY OP SILK. 57 

provinces of Ghilan and Shirvan, and the city of 
Schamachia, situated near the edge of the Caspian 
sea. It is said that in some years no less than 30,000 
bales of silk have been sent from these three places. 
The produce of Ghilan is the most abundant in quan- 
tity, and the best in quality. Shirvan and Erivan 
rank next; then Mazanderan, and lastly, Astrabad ; 
but the latter is so inferior, as to be usually employed 
in forming fabrics intermixed with cotton. It is sel- 
dom or never exported. The silk from these different 
places is stored at Ardebil, another Persian city, 
whence caravans set out for Smyrna, Aleppo, Scan- 
deroon, and Constantinople." 

In Turkey, the production of silk is confined to 
cities or larger towns, in the neighbourhood of which, 
the mulberry is the chief object of cultivation, whose 
proprietors rear not the worm, but vend the leaves 
daily during crop season in the market in such quan- 
tities as purchasers require. At the commencement 
of the season, almost every family clears out all the 
rooms in the house except one in which they live. 
The worms being obtained, they purchase leaves, strew 
them over the floor, leaving a path all round next 
the walls, and placing the worms thereon, purchase 
for the next day or days the requisite quantity of 
leaves, and so on, paying no attention to the accu- 
mulation of litter, until the feeding season is over. 
This pile of stems, offal, leaves, and litter frequently 
rises to 3 or 4 feet; over which, when the worms seem 
inclined to mount, they place branches or brash wood 
for their accommodation, leaving them to find their 
way out of the labyrinth as well as they can. It 
doubtless would, in several cases, be profitable, here, 
as well as in Turkey, to proprietors of mulberry 
trees or orchards in the country, near cities or 
markets, to vend their leaves to persons residing in 
the town having apartments not convertible to a 
better purpose. To the former it would be a source 
of profit, and to the latter, especially to the infirm, of 
lucrative employment not obtained by other means. 



58 HISTORY OF SILK. 

But the Turkish senseless mode of feeding, is to be 
rejected altogether. The principal place for silk in 
all Asia Minor is Broosa, about 90 miles to the south 
of Constantinople.* 

HINDOOSTAN. 

We are not furnished with any evidence to esta- 
blish the fact that the Hindoos, or the inhabitants of 
any part of peninsular India, were at an early period 
in possession of the mystery of producing silk, though 
we have reputable testimony to inform us of the ex- 
istence of an ancient military class in Hindoostan, 
termed Chinas ,t who migrated towards the country 

* Broosa, sometimes called Brussa, or Bursa, and anciently Prusa, 
from Prusias one of its first kings, contains about 100,000 inhabitants. 
It is a beautiful city, and a place of considerable trade ; four-fifths of its 
inhabitants are Osmanlis. It is situated at the foot of Olympus, a 
mountain of Bythinia, which covers it on three sides, and close upon 
which it lies. Its principal merchandise is silk, which constitutes the 
chief wealth of the place. 

Broosa, with its environs, furnishes in the course of a favourable year, 
a crop of from 7000 to 8000 bales of all kinds of silk from the finest to 
the very coarsest. The manufactories, such as they are, are spread all 
over the city, but there is nothing that can be called a factory. The 
weaving is all done by job work, at so much a peake for a measure 
about three quarters of a yard ; and these stuffs, so remarkable for beauty, 
are woven in miserable little rooms, only large enough to contain the 
loom and the weaver, or .two, as the case requires. 

When the figure is plain or striped, a man or boy alone, is sufficient 
for the purpose ; but when flowered, it requires a man and a boy ; one 
to weave and the other to work with bobbins in a manner to me incom- 
prehensible, but which he could manage with his eyes shut as well as 
open. These beautiful silks are woven by miserable, half starved 
wretches, at a gain of not more than three, and sometimes only one, 
piastre (six cents) a day. But the abundance of the country is said to 
be such that the cravings of nature may be satisfied for a para, one- 
fortieth of a piastre, a day. 

Broosa, like most of the places in Turkey, is surrounded by planta- 
tions of mulberry trees for the use of the silk worm ; with the limbs of 
which asses laden may be seen every instant going to the city. These 
trees are planted in rows, not more than 2 or 3 feet apart, and are kept 
so low, that a man can reach the top limbs, which are all cut down 
every year as the worms require them. — Extracted chiefly from the 
correspondence of Messrs. Rhind $ Porter in the Silk Culturist. 

■j- See also the learned volumes of Dr. Vincent on the Commerce and 



HISTORY OF SILK. 59 

now occupied by the Chinese, who from their earliest 
existence seem to have been engaged in the success- 
ful development of both the raw and wrought mate- 
rial. The thousand collectors also that accompanied 
Alexander's expedition to the Indus, delegated to 
transmit specimens in Natural History to the Grecian 
philosopher, were, as well as the army, successful in 
sending to Aristotle, not only the worms, but also their 
product. This added to the additional circumstance 
quoted by Gibbon in the "Decline and Fall," that 
the Indians and Chinese had anciently constant com- 
mercial intercourse at Trincomalee, affords the pre- 
sumption that amongst the ancient Hindoos there was 
not a complete ignorance, as to theory of the subject, 
but that the Chinese being more successful in the 
manipulation, both as to the raw and wrought mate- 
rial, were then, as they have continued to be since, 
in possession of the practice. 

That the entire of both processes, the production 
and the manufacture, are, in India, now successfully 
in the hands of the moderns, the East India Company, 
is well known. Every thing, in short, must have in- 
vited it there ; the soil, the climate of India, and above 
all the cheapness of labour. These not only origi- 
nally gave the invitation, but subsequently completed 
the success. The island of Cossimbazar, in the pro- 
vince of Bengal, possesses every advantage suitable 
to the wants and labours of the silk worm. There 
have been a considerable increase in the quantity and 
improvement in the quality of the raw silk produced 
since 1760, in the territories of the East India Com- 
pany. 

Dr.Lardner says, "There are eight principal silk fila- 
tures or factories belonging to the company in Bengal. 
In every filature are employed, according to its size, 
from 3000 to 10,000 people ; and if to these be added 
the mulberry planters, worm feeders, &c. the number 
dependent on each establishment may be stated at 

Navigation of the Ancients, and Dr. Robertson's Historical Disquisitions 
concerning Ancient India. 



60 HISTORY OF SILK. 

from 10,000 to 40,000 men, women, and children. 
Attempts have been made to introduce the silk worm 
into other parts of the Company's possessions, especi- 
ally on the coast of Coromandel." Dr. James An- 
derson introduced mulberry trees at Madras. In the 
year 1789 his success engaged several persons on 
different parts of the coast, Palamcotta, Masulipatam, 
Trichinopoly, and elsewhere, to the extent of 600 
miles along the coast. 

It does not appear that raw silk was produced in 
India, prior to the middle of the eighteenth century, 
with any view to immediate exportation. The little 
that then found its way to the English market, through 
a defect in the filature or from some other cause, was, 
in value, worth not more than from one-third to one- 
half of that of Italian silk. To obviate this, proper 
machinery and competent persons were sent for the 
establishment of filatures, or silk winding factories on 
the Italian system. After this we find improvement 
both in quantity and quality. In 1776, the shipments 
from Bengal amounted to 515,913 pounds, and during 
ten years, from 1776 to 1785, the average importa- 
tion in England is quoted at 560,283 pounds. The 
amount continued to advance progressively. About 
10 years since the average annual import of Bengal 
silks was 1,500,000 pounds. 

In point of quality, prior to 1794 Bengal silk was 
thought applicable only to a very limited number of 
uses, and accumulation in the warehouses of the East 
India Company was the consequence. Their com- 
mittee, therefore, advised that a portion of their stock 
should be converted into organzine by the silk throws- 
ters of the country. The experiment tended to lessen 
the prejudice against Bengal silk, and render the trade 
less dependent on Italy, whence the greatest part of 
the organzine was brought. From that time the im- 
portations of Bengal silk have been progressively 
improving in quality, and the organzine made from 
it has grown into favour, until it now ranks nearly 
at par with Italian organzine. In France, Italy, and 



HISTORY OF SILK. 61 

Turkey ', there is but one regular annual crop, while 
in Bengal there are three, at intervals of four 
months; in March, July, and November.* 

EGYPT.! 

Neither is it to the land of Pyramids that we look 
so much for the vestiges of the early culture of silk, 
as for those architectural remains compared with 
whose dimensions the proud monuments of ancient 
Greece and Rome are insignificant. But Egypt is 
rapidly rising as to the arts and products of useful 
industry; and the people of the fertile valley of the 
Nile, that on a sudden emergency can command the 
labour of 250,000 men to cut a canal J of 4S miles in 
6 weeks, can now produce six million pounds of 



* " Bengal raw silk is distinguished by two appellations — country- 
wound, and filature ; the former being furnished by native adventurers, 
who can employ none but the rudest methods for winding it ; while the 
latter is produced by servants of the East India Company, and treated 
according to the most approved European methods. 

" Different degrees of fineness or coarseness are denoted in the Com- 
pany's filatures in Bengal by the letters A, B, C ; silk of 4 to 5 cocoons 
is called A No. 1 ; of 6 to 8 cocoons B No. 2 ; of 12 to 14, and 16 to 
18 cocoons B No. 3 ; of 18 to 20 cocoons C No. 1 ; of 20 to 22 cocoons 
C No. 2 ; of 22 to 24 cocoons C No. 3. The silk which the natives 
reel by hand is much inferior, and is marked by the letters A, B, C, D, 
E. It must, therefore, be understood that the A No. 1 silk of one 
district in India will differ very materially in quality from that of an- 
other district, though bearing the same distinctive letter and number. 
Even the filature wound silks of different districts are subject to the 
same difference of quality. Thus, Bauleah filature is inferior to Rad- 
nagore or Cossimbazar filature, which again are excelled by the produce 
of Gonatea and Comercolly. In the last mentioned of these filatures, 
through the scientific skill and energy of the East India Company's re- 
sident, a system has lately been adopted of giving the necessary degree 
of heat to the cocoons while being wound, by means of steam ; and 
both the arrangement and execution of the plans for this purpose speak 
very favourably for the talents of the parties employed, when the re- 
moteness of the situation, and the consequent difficulties and obstacles 
to be surmounted are taken into account." — Dr. Lardner. 

f ~E-Gopt the land of the Copt. 

\. The canal of Nahmoudieh, opened in 1819, connecting Alexandria 
with the Nile at Fouah, 48 miles long, 90 feet broad,and 18 feet deep. 

6 



62 HISTORY OF SILK. 

cotton* annually; and in addition to the successful 
culture of the vine, the olive, and the sugar cane, 
have now turned their attention to that of silk. Mr. 
Russel informs us, in his interesting volume on An- 
cient and Modern Egypt, that " In the valley of 
Tumulaut, the ancient land of Goshen, \ is established 
a colony of five hundred Syrians for the purpose of 
cultivating the mulberry and rearing silk worms ; 
while in the beautiful province of Fayoum,| the vine 
and the olive are again approaching that perfection 
which they once enjoyed, and for which the genial 
climate of Egypt appears so well calculated." 

Nothing can so strikingly illustrate the wonderous 
effects, almost miraculously so, that may be accom- 
plished by a good government, even in one genera- 
tion ! — ought we not rather to say, by a government^ 
that Providence deigns to bless ? Egypt was lately 
a desert : feuds, distractions, and civil wars, worse 
than locusts, bats, and simooms, desolated the coun- 
try; but such is the inflexible decision to suppress the 
evil, and prompt energy to encourage industry, of the 

* " M. Jumel discovered one day," as we are informed by Mr. Russel, 
" in the garden of a Turk called Mako, a plant of the cotton tree, which 
he afterwards propagated with so much skill and success, as to have 
changed the commerce and statistics of Egypt. Jumel erected at Bou- 
lak, a superb establishment, equal in its structure to the finest European 
manufactory for spinning, weaving, dying, and printing of cotton goods- 
The latest improvements in machinery were borrowed from Europe ; 
steam is the principal moving power, and gas is employed for the pur- 
poses of artificial light. At Siout Mr. Webster found a cotton manu- 
factory in full operation. It gave employment to 800 men and boys 
who earn 10, 15, 20, or 30 paras and sometimes three piastres. Cotton 
factories are by no means uncommon in Egypt." 

Mr. Russel says, " It is very probable the quantity of cotton which 
may be raised in Egypt will at no distant period equal the whole im- 
portation from America !" It is time then that we should be looking 
after silk. 

j- Between the Nile and Suez at the head of the Red Sea, and east of 
the ancient Memphis, Pharaoh's city, which was 10 miles south of the 
site of the present Cairo. 

i About 40 miles south of Cairo, on the west of the Nile. 

§ We could wish that this should be fully understood by the govern- 
ments of the present day, who seem to think that no politics should be 
put off so late, as those of Him that made them. 



HISTORY OF SILK. 63 

Pasha,* whose portrait is now before us,t that Egypt, 
the late desert, is a garden that blossoms as the rose ; 
and her agriculture, her commerce, her caravans, her 
ships, are growing, moving to the south, north, east, and 
west. Like her river, her redundance is overflowing, 
and Africa, Europe, and Asia are partaking the benefit. 
The Pasha can now not only supply wax, hides, 
coffee, myrrh, frankincense, coculus indicus, asafoetida, 
ivory, rhinoceros horn, tortoise shell, sal ammoniac, 
senna, tamarinds, ostrich feathers, balsam of Mecca, 
gum arabic, gum copal, benzoin, aloes, coloquintida, 
gum ammoniac, galbanum, opoponax, spikenard, 
musk, gold dust, grain, but also cotton and silk to 
those who either cannot or will not raise them for 
themselves. 



CHAPTER IV. 

EUROPE. 

SECTION I. 

Naples, Calabria, Sicily ,• Italy, Venice, and Genoa. 

No satisfactory reason, as yet has been assigned 
to account for a tardiness in the dissemination of the 
knowledge of silk culture, such that it was confined, 
after its first introduction into Europe, to Greece 
until the demolition of the Greek empire, or for 600 
years. And mankind first became indebted for the 
further extension of that knowledge to means, on 
common principles not apparently justifiable. For 

* This trait is here considered abstractedly from his former character. 

■j- Russel's View of Ancient and Modern Egypt, chapter viii. In 
reading the volume through, there will be instruction and entertainment 
without disappointment. 



64 HISTORY OP SILK. 



Roger, the Norman king of Sicily,* invaded the 
Grecian countries, a. d. 1146, carried off the treasures 
of Athens, Thebes, and Corinth, led into captivity a 
number of silk weavers, and thus severing them from 
the natural ties of country and relationship, con- 
strained them to settle at Palermo and Calabria, 
both then within the kingdom of Naples possessed 
by the Norman family, to conduct the cocoonery, 
filature, and manufacturing processes about to be 
established, by rapine and compulsion, in the domi- 
nions of Sicily. In twenty years, considerable ex- 
cellency was attained under the instruction of the 
Greeks; and silks of diversified colours, some inter- 
woven with gold, others adorned with figures or em- 
bellished with pearls were produced : but the dying 
in high colours, is said to be a later discovery. 

From that time to the present the policy of that 
country has encouraged the manufacture, and it is 
esteemed there, in importance, as an agricultural 
product next to corn. A company invested with 
privileges for erecting manufactories of silks, stuffs, 
and camblets was established in 1752 by the king of 
Naples. The annual average of silks exported from 
Sicily is quoted at the value of $1,087,500. There 
are 900 looms at Palermo, 1200 at Messina, and a 
greater number at Catania. Of what is exported, the 
greater part is to' the Levant, and but little to the 
English market. It is defective in reeling, dying, 
and sorting : the length of its skein also differing from 
the general importations, is inconvenient to the 
throwster, and the quality of its filament is not suit- 
able to the general purposes of the manufacturer.t 

ITALY, VENICE, AND GENOA. 

The provinces of the Greek empire, which were 

* After his return from the Second Crusade. 

•j- Finizio, the celebrated manufacturer at Naples, makes and sends 
to the New York market, at the rate of 3000 lbs. of sewing silk a week. 
—Silk Cul., vol. i. p. 133. 



IS 



HISTORY OF SILK. 65 

the principal seats for the production of silk, coming, 
in the year 1203, into the possession of the Venetians; 
and Galata into that of the Genoese, lead to the pre- 
sumption that they would not fail, under such favour- 
able circumstances, to transfer to their equally con- 
genial climates the means for the prosecution of a 
concern so lucrative as that of silk. There are few 
or no authentic records relative to the introduction 
of silk into any other part of Italy before the year 
1300. At Venice encouragement was given by the 
government and the wealthy. The production, there- 
fore, and the manufacture of silk were considered to 
be noble employments, the pursuit of which implied 
no degradation of rank. In 1300, Florence was the 
principal place for the manufacture, which at that 
time employed many thousand people. In the year 
1306, the rearing of silk worms had become of so 
much importance at Modena, as to yield a revenue 
to the state, and its silk was then esteemed to be the 
best in Lombardy. But until the beginning of the 
sixteenth century, Bologna was the only city of Italy 
in possession of throwsting mills or machinery re- 
quisite for preparing the silken fabrics for weaving. 

The average amount of silk annually exported from 
Italy is computed to exceed $17,500,000. Count 
Dandolo says that two-thirds, in amount, of all the 
exports from Italy are silks.* 

* " Though there are silk factories in Italy, yet the greater part of 
fabrics are domestic manufacture, managed much in the same way as 
cotton was in this country before the introduction of power looms. The 
manufacturer purchases the silk of the grower, reeled suitable for such 
fabrics as he wishes to make, prepares it for the loom by dying, warp- 
ing, &c, and then puts it out to the weaver, who weaves it in a hand 
loom and returns it. Afterwards it is finished and put up for market." 
—Silk Cul., vol. i. p. 13. 

It may be well here to observe, that the power loom is nowhere used 
in Europe in the manufacture of silk. The first silk ever wrought by 
power loom was recently made in Rhode Island by Mr. Gay. But the 
quantity made has been small — enough, however, to assure us that 
when the material can be supplied in the necessary quantity, this me- 
thod of manufacturing that article will be adopted. 
6* 



66 HISTORY OF SILK. 



SPAIN, PORTUGAL, AND THE NETHERLANDS. 

It is well known that during the middle ages, 
literature and the arts were almost universally neg- 
lected. Such barbarian influence had invaded civil- 
ized nations, and so great a cloud had covered the 
earth, that for ages we find the Arabs chiefly signal- 
ized for a knowledge of what remained of art or 
science, and for attention to agriculture, manufacture, 
and commerce. For an acquaintance with these, it 
was to the Arabs or Saracens, their conquerors, that 
Spain and Portugal were indebted. Bishop Otto de 
Freysingen speaking of the great progress which silk 
manufactures had made in Spain, relates that, "after 
the siege of Milan, Frederick I., held a diet of the 
empire in 1158, in the fields of Roncaglia, at which 
were present, in magnificent attires, the ambassadors 
of the Genoese, who recently had conquered from the 
Saracens, two important cities, Lisbon and Almeria, 
both famous on account of their manufactures of 
silk." 

It appears from a work that Marino Sanuto, a noble 
Venetian, commenced in the year 1306, and pre- 
sented to the pope in 1321, entitled, "the Secrets of 
the Faithful/' complaining of certain exactions im- 
posed, during the whole of that time, on the European 
trader, in ports subject to Mohammedan princes, par- 
ticularly as to silk and sugar, that Apulia, Romania, 
Sicily, Crete, and Cyprus were then signalized for 
the production of the former. In addition to which 
we find mention made of Lisbon, Almeria, Granada, 
Murcia, Cordova, and Majorca, as places engaged 
in the culture very early after the introduction of silk 
worms into Sicily. We are also informed that " when 
Ferdinand V. conquered Granada, a. d. 1492, and 
put an end to the Moorish power in Spain, he found 
there numerous establishments for the production of 
silk fabrics, which were rivalled by others in Murcia 
and Cordova." 



HISTORY OF SILK. 67 

This evidently implies that the Saracens were they, 
who were then principally employed in this culture. 
Although the first body of these primeval wanderers 
that entered Spain, crossed the straits from Maurita- 
nia, a. d. 712 ; yet we find that others inhabited 
Sicily from a. d. 828 until they were finally driven 
from thence a. d. 1272. And it was there, doubtless, 
that the Saracens first acquired the necessary know- 
ledge as to the rearing of silk worms. On their ex- 
pulsion from Sicily, a transit to Majorca and Spain 
would be easy ; to which a knowledge of the success- 
ful establishments there of other tribes from the same 
progenitor, and of the same faith, would be an ad- 
ditional inducement. 

Though since the above period, Spain has not been 
as eminent, as other nations, either as a silk growing 
or manufacturing country, yet an attention as steady, 
though comparatively stationary, has been devoted 
to these concerns, as that want of both agricultural 
and commercial enterprise, for which, through poli- 
tical, not physical circumstances, that nation is cha- 
racterized, would, perhaps, allow. Therefore, under 
this comparative dearth of interest, as to the culture in 
Spain, we shall pass to countries whence we may derive 
more information, contenting ourselves with observ- 
ing, " en passant," that it was to Spain, that Henry II. 
was indebted for the silk stockings he wore, and 
which in his day attracted such extraordinary notice. 
Henry VIII., as well as Edward VI., were likewise 
supplied from that country with the same article for 
their personal use. We also learn, that not long after 
the commencement of the eighteenth century, when 
France, over and above her own production, imported 
yearly 4800 bales (each weighing 160 lbs.) of silk; 
of these 300 bales were annually imported of Spanish 
manufacture. 

Though Spain and the Netherlands were subject 
to one crown in the person of Charles V., yet it was 
to France first, though to Spain subsequently, that 
the Netherlands were indebted for their knowledge 



68 HISTORY OF SILK. 

of the mysteries of the silken fabric. On the subject 
of the trade at Antwerp, in the middle of the sixteenth 
century, Guicciardini has given us the following tes- 
timony. " The merchants of Antwerp exchanged at 
Bologna their own serges and other stuffs, tapestries, 
linens, merceries, &c. for wrought silks, cloth of gold, 
silver crapes, &c. To Venice, they sent jewels, pearls, 
and the cloth and wool of England, and received in 
return, the finest and richest wrought silks, &c. Na- 
ples took from them cloths of their own and English 
manufacture, and returned raw, thrown, and wrought 
silks. Sicily obtained from them serges and cloth, 
paying in cotton and silk. The consignments to 
Milan were pepper, sugar, &c; the returns were 
wrought silks. To Florence and Genoa, woollen 
stuffs and English wool ; and the imports from the 
first of these places were very fine wrought silk, and 
from Genoa, satins and velvets." 

History, by a thousand examples, everywhere testi- 
fies that the industrious energies of man will advance in 
the uninterrupted career of prosperity, only in climes 
blessed with peace and freedom from internal war 
and political distraction. Flanders ere this had ranked 
high as one of those favourable regions where com- 
merce has fixed her seat, had not the desolating pest 
of war blasted the growth of ages, and driven what- 
ever was likely to benefit man to more peaceful 
shores, the three days indiscriminate plunder and 
destruction to which Antwerp was subject in 1585, 
by the duke of Parma, then governor of the Spanish 
Netherlands, was a blow to the commerce of the Low 
Countries, from which they have never since reco- 
vered. The artisans, merchants, manufacturers, and 
their capital were dispersed; England became the 
asylum, and reaped in return the wealth that war 
forbade to dwell elsewhere. 

As to the production of silk in the Netherlands, it 
remains only to quote M. d'Homergue. " The king 
of the Netherlands," to secure the instruction of a 
competent superintendent, "invited from Spain the 



HISTORY OF SILK. 69 

chevalier Barramendy, and assigned to him the castle 
of Manoge, in the vicinity of the town of Ath, ten 
leagues from Brussels, with a number of acres of 
ground belonging to it; which he has planted with 
the white mulberry. The king supplied him with 
considerable sums of money. The silk which was 
made, proved, however, of a very inferior quality. 
Nevertheless, the minister of the interior, Van Gob- 
helschroy, and the inspector of the national manufac- 
tories, M. Nettscher, continue to encourage the un- 
dertaking. The prince of Orange himself went in 
person to Manoge, to inspect the establishment, and 
gave it the sanction of his patronage." 

FRANCE. 

M. Mavet, in his history of the silk trade, asserts 
that thejirst* mulberry tree in France, was brought 
during the time of the crusades by Guipape of St. 
Aubon, and planted three leagues from Montmeliart. 
At an early period the Greeks supplied France and 
Germany with the fabrics, and silk came into use as 
an article for apparel. " Charlemagne wore above 
his linen doublet and under garment, a silk scarf round 
his waist. Not sooner than the middle ages did the 
sumptuous silk cloaks, embroidered with gold and 
silver, worn by the knights over their more martial 
equipment, come into fashion. Charles VI. wore 
constantly a black velvet coat of arms even in the 
hottest days. And Charles VII. wore at his entrance 
into Rouen, in 1449, a beaver lined with velvet, 
which was the most costly and elegant head orna- 
ment known at that time.'*t 

* " This identical tree, it is said, was living in 1810, when the 
owner of the premises, M. de la Tour des pay le Chaux, caused this 
venerable parent of French mulberry to be preserved and respected, by 
having a wall built round it, and forbidding its leaves to be gathered. 
The cuttings and descendants of this tree now cover the soil of France, 
and produced to the state in 1810, a revenue of more than 100,000,000 
pounds of raw silk, and more than 400,000,000 of francs in industry 
only, an amount greatly increased since that time." 

f Count de Hazzi. 



70 HISTORY OF SILK. 

The manufacture of silk does not appear to have 
been introduced into France earlier than the time of 
Louis XL, who in 1480 established, with extensive 
privileges, at Tours, the artisans he had obtained from 
Genoa, Venice, and Florence. Authors do not ap- 
pear to be perfectly agreed relative to the first intro- 
duction of the silk worm into France. Some refer 
that event to the year 1494, or during the campaigns 
of Charles VIIL, when, it is affirmed that not only 
silk worms, but also a further supply of mulberry 
trees were brought from Italy, which gave prospe- 
rity to the rich countries that, border on the Rhone. 
The progress of the manufacture, however, appears 
to have been comparatively stationary, until the reign 
of Francis I. The artisans obtained in the year 1521 
from the dutchy of Milan, then in the possession of 
the French, introduced the manufacture into Lyons, 
and were encouraged by the patronage of that mo- 
narch. According to these authorities, it was from 
this time that a more rapid progress ensued, and ma- 
nufactories sprung up not only in Lyons, but also in 
the southern provinces, adequate first to supply do- 
mestic consumption, and soon after to export wrought 
silks of a quality to sustain competition in foreign 
markets, which to France ultimately became, even 
from England only, a source of abundant wealth. 

But according to Thuanus, it is to Francis I. that 
the French were indebted for the first introduction 
of the silk worms ; which were successfully reared in 
Provence, Avignon, and Lyons. Others refer this 
event to the time of Henry IV. The more probable 
case is that all previous attempts, whether in the 
raising of silk, or in the manufacture of fabrics, com- 
pared with those resulting from the more liberal 
patronage of the monarch last mentioned, were not 
so extensively successful Indeed it is acknowledged 
that both mulberry trees and silk worms were reared 
before in Lyonnois, Dauphine, Provence, and Lan- 
guedoc ; but by Henry, it appears, they were natu- 
ralized as far north as Orleans ; who also, according 



HISTORY OF SILK. 71 

to Mezeray planted the trees at Paris, and reared the 
worms at the Tuileries. The Parisians were encou- 
raged by letters patent, conferring, on certain condi- 
tions, even titles of nobility, to introduce manufacto- 
ries into the metropolis. But later experience has 
shown that the climate north of the Loire is not 
suitable to the insect. 

M. d'Homergue informs us that Henry " invited 
one Michaeli from Italy into his dominions, and gave 
him, for the purpose of forming an extensive planta- 
tion of mulberry trees, and raising the article of silk, 
the castle of the old Marquis de Fournes, situate on 
the river Gardon, in the vicinity of Nimes. This inge- 
nious foreigner was the first who began the manufac- 
tories of silk stuffs that now enrich that city. And 
tradition informs us that the king expended on those 
establishments the immense sum of near one million 
and a half of livres; an enormous sum in those days." 

Olivier de Serres was highly instrumental in urging 
the king in the furtherance of this national benefit,* 
who is, indeed, called by the French to this day, the 
patriarch of agriculture. The king conscious of the 
merits of Olivier, " offered him the highest honours, — 
but he asked for one favour only, viz. that all useless 
trees might be banished from the royal gardens ; an 
example that was soon extensively followed through- 
out the kingdom. At Olivier's recommendation 
14,000 mulberry trees, and a large quantity of seed 
of the same tree were ordered from Italy, to supply 
the vacancies intentionally made in the Royal Gar- 
dens. In later times he also procured silk worms' 
eggs, and persons acquainted with their rearing. 
The trees, the eggs, and printed instructions, were 
distributed gratis to agriculturists."^ Well, there- 
fore, may Henry and Olivier be called the chief 
patrons of the silk culture in France. Olivier for 
this, was entitled to greater merit, since he was op- 

* Opposed at first, through misapprehension, even by Sully. This 
is curiously stated by Comte de Hazzi, q. v. p. 16, 17, 18. 
\ (Jomte de Hazzi. 



72 HISTORY OF SILK. 

posed (Anno 1603) by the powerful influence of 
Sully and the other ministers of the French king.* 
"How much would Sully now," adds Count de 
Hazzi, " be astonished, could he behold the evidence 
of his mistake, and the foresight of his royal master. 
Instead of continuing to pay to foreign merchants 
four millions of francs annually, for silk, the French 
draw many millions from their ancient suppliers, and 
enrich themselves in proportion." 

The prosperity of the silk culture and manufacture 
in France, resulting from the favouring auspices of 
Henry IV. and Olivier de Serres, received a further 
impulse from the fostering care and patronage of 
Louis XIV. and his minister Colbert. A reward of 
three livres to the cultivator for every mulberry tree 
that should be found in a thriving condition three 
years after being planted, had the desired effect, and 
Provence, Languedoc, Dauphine, Vivarais, Lyonnois, 
Gascony, and Saaitonge were speedily covered with 
trees though the former chiefly produced the silk. 

Francis I., in the year 1540, granted to the city of 
Lyons, which may be termed the silk emporium of 
France, the privilege, since by various royal ordi- 
nances continued to 1717, of being the depot, through 
which, on account of certain duties, all silks brought 
by sea or land, had to pass. On an average, 6000 
bales of silk, from the Levant, 1000 from Sicily, 1500 
from Italy, 300 from Spain, and 1200 from Langue- 
doc, Provence, and Dauphine annually passed through 
the city, in which when in its most flourishing state 
18,000 looms were in operation.! 

* Memoirs de Max. de Bethune, Due de Sully; Londres, 1767, vol. 
v. p. 74. And Count von Hazzi, p. 17 et seq. 

-j- In 1656, frames for weaving silk stockings were obtained from 
England and introduced into Paris. In 16 years after, so rapidly had 
this branch of operative industry extended, that the silk stocking weavers 
were considered to be of sufficient importance to be incorporated by 
royal ordinance, and extensive stocking manufactories were established 
in numerous towns. This department of manufacture nourished until 
restrictions imposed by the injudicious interference of government re- 
pressed its prosperity, and it is now chiefly found at Cevennes. 



HISTORY OF SILK. 73 

Between 1688 and 1741, according to the "Com- 
merce dn 19me Siecle," France annually exported 
to England wrought silks to the value of 12,500,000 
francs. For the protection of her own manufacture, 
prohibitory laws against the introduction of foreign 
silk commenced in England in 1765, which with 
various modifications have been, but not effectually, 
maintained until the present. The French export of 
wrought goods, notwithstanding, in 1784 is quoted 
at 25 million of francs, and in 1789, at 29,745,000 
francs. 

During a state of domestic peace, whatever were 
the foreign wars, the manufactures of France were 
in a prosperous condition. But two political events, 
the one characterized by religious intolerance and 
massacre, and the other by the prevalency of atheism 
and anarchy, proved by their destructive conse- 
quences, their origin. The desolating effects of the 
revocation of the edict of Nantes in 1685, in a few 
years reduced the 1 8,000 looms at Lyons to 4000 ; 
and consequences still more disastrous were exem- 
plified at Tours ; which before the revocation had 
800 mills for winding and preparing silk, 8000 looms 
for weaving, and 40,000 persons engaged in the 
manufacture, as well as 3000 looms in the manufac- 
ture of ribands. Soon after the revocation, the mills 
were reduced to 70, the looms to 1200, and the ope- 
ratives to 4000 ; and the consumption of silk which 
had amounted to 2400 bales decreased to 700 I 

The same features of family descent are indelibly 
stamped on the revolution. Before it, in 1786, Lyons 
had 15,000 looms; in 1789 not half that number, and 
in 1800, not more than 3500, nor more than 5800 
artisans employed in the manufacture. The removal 
of that political sirocco allowed once more the healthy 
energies of man to circulate. In 1824 Lyons had 
24,000 looms employed, and 36,000 artisans; and in 
1825, a Lyons newspaper states that 8526 factories 
were in operation. Subsequent fluctuations, it is true, 
but neither material nor permanent, might be noticed, 

7 



74 HISTORY OP SILK. 

but they chiefly arose from indiscreet interference 
and political impediment ; from the artificial and not 
the natural springs of action. 

The annual consumption of silks in France for 
1823, was quoted at 1,600,000 lbs.* The difference 
existing, for nearly 30 years past, as to any statistics 
from customhouse documents, between declared and 
real values of exports and imports, precludes the 
possibility of quoting with accuracy from thence the 
quantity of silk sent to foreign markets. But from 
the most credible testimonies, we may state as an 
approximation to the truth, that in France, notwith- 
standing they raise so much silk, they annually import 
in value, on the average, to the extent of 30,000,000 
francs of raw silk, or one-third of all they consume 
for their manufactures.! 

Value of exported wrought silk. 

Year 1801 39,314,000 francs. 

Year 1820. 123,063,000 francs. 

Year 1821 1 1 1,689,000 francs. 

Year 1822 99,063,000 francs. 

Year 1835 124,850,000 francs. 

One-third of which was brought to the United 
States ! ! ! 



OTHER STATUES OF CONTINENTAL EUROPE. 

Switzerland is one of the countries benefited by the 
ambitious projects and sanguinary discontent of other 
nations. The very weapon of Bonaparte, uplifted 
to destroy, in 1810, the commerce of England, merely 

* "France produced in 1812, 987,000 lbs. of raw silk, and imported 
a like quantity." — Dr. Lardner. 

-j- The statement from Count de Hazzi is as follows : " The annual 
profits from this single branch of industry in France, are estimated at 
40 millions of florins ; of which, a tenth is derived from the production 
of the raw material, and the remainder from the manufacture. Ac- 
cording to the most recent statistical data, that kingdom derives from 
the production of silk 23,560,000 francs per annum, and 84,000,000 
francs from the fabrication ; and, consequently, the capital which is 
brought into circulation in both ways, amounts to 107,560,000 francs ! ! ! 



HISTORY OP SILK. 75 

fell to crush the prosperity of his own people. The 
manufacturers of cottons and muslins inhabiting the 
vicinity of the lake of Zurich, losing their usual mar- 
ket by Napoleon's prohibition to admit, in order to 
exclude English manufacture, foreign goods into 
France, transferred their labours so skilfully to silk, 
that in a very few years, they became successful 
competitors with the French in the German markets. 
And the injury thus first inflicted by war on the in- 
ternal resources of France, was redoubled by religious 
persecutions. On this account in 1815, 1816, and 
1817, numerous artisans and manufacturers emigrated 
from Lyons, and transported their industry and capital 
to Zurich. Thus strangers and aliens profit by the 
domestic quarrels of others : but governments when 
they become Ahithophels learn not by such lessons. 

The neighbourhood of Zurich, in 1814, contained 
not more than 2000 looms; in 1828 the looms had 
increased there to 10,000: and three of the factories 
employed 2600 and one 1204 artisans. In the year 
1820, Germany entirely depended on France for a 
supply of wrought silks ; since then silks of Swiss 
manufacture are so abundant in the markets of 
Frankfort and Leipzig, as to interfere materially with 
the French merchant. At Zurich and Basle silk 
fabrics of all kinds, crape and satin excepted, are now 
manufactured. The silk for umbrellas is also now 
made so extensively at Berne, as to supply the north 
of continental Europe. The encouragement given 
to Switzerland is such that other cantons are now 
enlisting in the enterprise : in short, what the litigious 
French have lost, the peaceful Swiss have gained. 

Count de Hazzi says, " The history of the cultivation 
of silk in Germany divide sitself into three epochs; 
of which the two former may be called the unlucky ! 
According to written documents, the first experiment 
on rearing the silk worm was made in 1598, at Roth- 
enburg ; and repeated at Wurtzburg, Hochheim, 
Dresden, and Stutgard." In 1669, further efforts 
were renewed, and a numerous company, consisting 



76 HISTORY OF SILK. 

of some of the most distinguished families in Munich, 
was organized. But the misunderstanding* with their 
Italian superintendant, Lucas UrTele, involved the 
company in law suits with him and the Italian mer- 
chants. The company sustained the loss of many 
thousand florins, and Lucas imprisonment, from 
which he did not escape till after a confinement of 
six years and a half. 

The next impulse given to Germany, originated 
from the example of Prussia ; to the history of which 
we refer under a distinct section. Hence, "from 
1744 to 1755, 35,678 mulberry trees were planted in 
Saxony, which in 1753, produced 150 lbs. of silk. 
Similar success attended the endeavours which were 
made in Wurtemberg, Anspach, and Baireuth. But 
the most active promoter was the Elector Charles 
Theodore in the Palatinate, where, under his auspices, 
80,000 mulberry trees were planted, and his example 
was soon followed in the dutchy of Deux-Ponts." A 
company was afterwards formed, by which extensive 
plantations of mulberry trees were made at Munich, 
Landshut, Engelkofen, Arnsdorf, Straubing, and 
Burkhausen; and the promenades, ramparts, and 
streets of many cities were ornamented with these 
trees \ and the whole was in a promising state, until 
1787. The cause of the temporary failure is a sub- 
ject of distinct and subsequent consideration. 

It is more remarkable than extraordinary that the 
third epoch of the silk culture in Germany, which is 
•to be dated from 1821, was brought about by a lady. 
"During the distribution of premiums," says Comte de 
Hazzi, " at the agricultural solemnities of that year, 
in the circle of the Lower Danube, high praise was 
given to the exertions which had been made for 
the revival of the silk culture, by a noble lady, by 
name of Leeb Straubing. My own attention was 
thereby strangely kindled, and I remember that on 
my entrance into public life, as aulic counsellor, I 

* Comte de Hazzi, p. 19, et seq. 



HISTORY OF SILK. 77 

heard much in the council of silk culture. I requested 
M. de Nagel* to draw up a memorandum respecting 
the mulberry tree — to enter into correspondence with 
the above mentioned lady, and to converse on the 
subject with the officers of the late superintendency. 
Much information was thereby obtained. With 50 
silk worm eggs furnished by lady Leeb, the first ex- 
periment was made in the spring of 1822. Fortu- 
nately 3 mulberry trees were discovered not far from 
the capital. Within 44 days we were in possession 
of 50 beautiful cocoons, and the butterflies produced 
2500 eggs. These were hatched in the spring of 
1823, at which period more mulberry trees had been 
discovered. In 1823, the number of eggs of which 
we could dispose amounted to 600,000. Demands 
for eggs and directions for their use reached us from 
several parts of the kingdom. We were informed at 
the same time, how madly whole alleys of the pre- 
cious trees had been cut down, even very recently, 
to serve for fuel like the commonest wood." 

In the report, before the board for the extension 
of silk culture in Bavaria, we find that " mulberry 
trees had multiplied in all directions ; that a great 
number had been found and fortunately saved from 
the axe, after thousands of them had been felled 
through sheer ignorance ! upwards of 100,000 
had been cut down in one single district, called the 
Regens Kreis ; that the silk worms had withstood all 
the changes of climate, even when not tended at all ; 
and that neither mortality nor diseases had occurred; 
that the silk produced was not inferior in quality to 
that of Italy." In 1825, the progress which the cul- 
tivation of silk was making in Bavaria, attracted the 
attention of several German states, viz. the kingdom 
of Wurtemberg, the Grand Dutchy of Baden, the 
Electorate of Hessen, Nassau, and Meinungen. 

According to the report of Count Reigersberg, the 



* Secretary of the committee of the Agricultural Society, and who 
had become acquainted with the culture of silk in Hungary. 

7* 



78 HISTORY OF SILK. 

quantity of silk produced in the Palatinate during the 
years specified below, may be stated as follows 

In the year 1777 15,024 lbs. 

1784. 45,728 lbs. 

1785 29,249 lbs. 

1 787 1 7,047 lbs. 

1789 37,137 lbs. 

In the same report we read, " According to long 
experience, the mulberry tree thrives among us as 
well as the common fruit trees. The experience of 
many years, proves sufficiently that the culture agrees 
at least as well with our climate, as with those of the 
provinces of France and Italy, which for several cen- 
turies have been considered as the principal seats of 
the silk culture in Europe. Whilst it failed so com- 
pletely in those countries in 1816 and 1817, that the 
price of silk was more than double, the pound selling 
at 28 florins ; we nevertheless obtained good crops. 
There remains not the least doubt that we can pro- 
duce silk as cheap as in France. In the Cevennes, 
female spinners receive 42 kr. a day, and twiners 
21 kr. ; whilst, among us, women well acquainted 
with that kind of labour, will work for a third of the 
money. The silk produced in Germany is at least 
equal to that of Turin. Not long ago, in weaving 
silk imported from Italy and from Manheim, we 
found that the weaver, who had been accustomed to 
Italian and French silk, preferred by far the organzine 
of Manheim for its greater strength and equality." 

It appears from the whole of the evidence before 
us, that there have been three distinct periods in the 
history of silk in Germany, commencing respectively 
in 1598, 1744, and 1821 ; that the two former were, 
as termed by Comte de Hazzi, unlucky, a conse- 
quence resulting from misunderstanding and misman- 
agement; the whole of which does not even yet 
appear to be removed ; and therefore the enterprise 
commencing with 1821, compared with what it would 
be, were it free from impediments with which it has 
no physical or necessary connexion, is yet in its in- 
fancy. 



HISTORY OF SILK. 79 

On reading this singular statement given by Count 
de Hazzi, we were naturally led to inquire, what 
was the cause of the two former periods being " un- 
lucky?" Was it the high latitude ? Not so ; since 
silk is produced not unsuccessfully, as far to the north 
as Sweden. Was it any peculiarity whatever of 
climate ? We are informed not. It is by all parties 
confessed not only that mulberry trees and silk worms 
were raised there, but also that the German climate 
proved congenial to both. Was it because the pro- 
duction of domestic silk was unimportant in a national 
or financial point of view ? Quite the contrary, since 
Bavaria alone, recently imported silks at the rate of 
10 millions of florins per annum. Are we then to 
look, somewhat philosophically, into national cha- 
racter : the French, the Italians, nay even the Rus- 
sians and the Swedes succeed, why not the Germans ? 
We are met again by a negative, since the Germans, 
even the uneducated, are remarkable for their steady 
and industrious habits. Neither were the failures 
attributable to the want of the most encouraging ex- 
amples from the neighbouring silk districts of France 
and Italy ; in each, a source of abundant wealth to 
the nation, and giving employment to myriads of 
men, women, and children, otherwise, perhaps, des- 
titute. 

No such cause or causes can be assigned. Here 
then, in the history of men, either as individuals or 
formed into communities have we an anomaly ! No 
impediment from any physical, natural cause what- 
ever ; not from the soil, situation nor climate ; but 
from, if we are allowed the expression, a political 
climate. A moral phenomenon ! Men destroy what 
Providence bestows ! There are some cases, in which 
interference on the part of government with the in- 
dustry and secular prosperity of its people, has been 
salutary, but many in which it has been a withering 
political atmosphere, something like a posthumous 
edition of Justinian's overreaching rapacity, that, by 



80 HISTORY OP SILK. 

grasping at too much, loses all.* Charity, however, 
intimates, that on the part of the German govern- 
ments, it was philanthropy aiming at the people's 
weal.t Be it so ; — yet the indiscretion that misdi- 
rected it, rendered the whole abortive. 

But what a picture of artificial clogs and shackles 
have we on reading the long list of governmental 
restrictions, mulcts, charges, and compulsive mea- 
sures. Surely the whole apparatus of screws, fetters, 
pincers, hammer, nail, and tongs, brought by the 
Spanish Armada, to show how the friends of the 
holy inquisition intended to bless the English with a 
happy purgatory in their own country, could not 
well equal such a thumb-screw system ; such artificial 
manacles to clog the free blessings of the skies, 

By some legislative fiat, monopolies rise, having 
officers, inspectors, and creatures enjoying uncondi- 
tional salaries, and privileges that another, by the 
most untiring industry, loyalty, and merit, could never 
touch, though induced to engage, not by the reward 
that sweetens toil, but by coercive means. Two 
castes among the children of the same father ! One 
has encouragement, the other compulsion, though the 
merit is equal! Here not only a full price, but even 
a bounty is given for the produce ; there a law forcing 
to undersell at the risk of fine, bodily punishment, 
or imprisonment, for either not producing or with- 
holding. The smiles of government beam with pe- 
culiar grace on the minions of the monopoly, but the 
back of the hand or the spurn of the heel is shown to 
its slaves. The former enjoy the gracious touch of 



* " Apa? to <JW," said the Grecian fabulist, " ce£/uw<ri <ro aaivou \*Quv, 
dwcexvri h '-ifA<po<Tt£oi ;" dropping his own, he rushed to catch another's, 
and thus lost both. 

j- Were this the case, why do favouritism and partiality appear in the 
development of facts, and two prices for a pound of cocoons. The one 
affording ample profit to the parasite ; the other positive discourage- 
ment and despair to another, who was forced to sell by law and penal- 
ties at a different rate. 



HISTORY OP SILK. 81 

the sceptre, the latter have to kiss the dust at their 
master's feet* 

Men on the wrong side of the Eutopian walls felt 
this. They saw no prospect of adequate remunera- 
tion; aversion was the consequence, and the remedy 
they sought, was simply to let the worms die ; — of the 
jaundice they said, but the true cause was, they gave 
them nothing to eat.t And thus having got rid of 
all the little soldiers quartered in their barracks, at- 
tention was next turned to the mulberry trees. To 
them they were not the monuments of interest, but 
the pyramids of oppression. In the fields they could 
not cheer them, but in the fire they could, and the 
choice was not difficult. At first, the trees seemed 
to walk away by night ; soon whole lanes or alleys 
appeared through plantations; and finally entire 
forests were destroyed. Thus the district in Ger- 
many that could boast of its million mulberries, in a 
few years could scarcely furnish a score; and Ger- 
many by the mistaken policy of its rulers, became 
tributary again to foreign nations for silk. This ex- 
tinction amounted to an almost national oblivion of 
the very existence of the thing by the wars of the 
French Revolution that soon after overran the states 
of Germany. 

With the causes already assigned as productive of 
these disastrous consequences, there were others at 
different times combined, and some so singular or 
important in their character, as to demand a record 
on the page of history. At an early period, the peo- 
ple seem to have been set to work without competent 
instruction. Trees were planted in marshy, wet 
grounds, or in the streets, or along the road sides. 

* See Treatise by Count de Hazzi, p. 42 and 43. It is said that 
" The Elector, Maximilian Joseph, who succeeded Charles Theodore, 
abrogated the compulsory system ; and with it disappeared all the offences, 
complaints, and litigations, which it had occasioned." 

■j" ^xoxwruioi; ihryi, /Aty* i^n/uiceSnv, x. r. A. q. v. Hieroc. facet. " I 
have suffered a great loss," said he, " for when, through economy, I had 
taught my horse not to eat, just then he died !" 



82 HISTORY OF SILK. 

Hence the leaves became too much saturated with 
moisture, or too much loaded with dust to suit the 
purpose intended. Ignorance, in certain cases, was 
so complete, as to allow the hatching before the leaves 
were on the trees. Some, not aware of the large 
quantity required during the third and subsequent 
ages of the insect, had allowed the hatch without 
being sure of a quantity to supply the wants of the 
creature at those periods. Often the worms were not 
fed at the right time, and prodigious quantities were 
put together in close rooms, hence, as in crowded 
hospitals, unwholesome evaporation and diseases 
were the consequence. In numerous cases, govern- 
ment distributed portions of eggs to different regi- 
ments ; but the soldiers cantooned the little animals 
on trees in the open air, till the first shower of artil- 
lery, rain, or hail, brought the young recruits to the 
ground, where they bivouacked, until such Goths, as 
ants, spiders, and sparrows destroyed them. Another 
adverse circumstance, but of a very different cha- 
racter, was, that at the prospect of the progress of 
silk culture in Germany the merchants and dealers in 
foreign silks took the alarm. They " persuaded the 
government that they would be ruined should it 
longer continue in existence ; and that the state too, 
would soon discover and feel the disadvantages which 
it produces. They had calculated with a true mer- 
cantile spirit that where silk is produced, manufac- 
turers would soon abound, whereby the price of the 
foreign commodity must fall, and could not be forced 
on the purchaser with large profits. They were 
listened to, and the institution was suddenly discon- 
tinued, under the pretence that the culture of silk 
could not be longer continued in Bavaria because it 
was injurious rather than profitable to the state." 

It is not easy to consider silk as any thing less than 
one of the bounties of Providence to man ; and con- 
sidered in this light, it is the more remarkable, that 
the knowledge of no other art, or possession of any 



HISTORY OP SILK. 83 

other secular gift, is apparently more indebted to re- 
ligious persecution for its diffusion, than is that of 
the culture of silk. By persecution, the Nestorians 
were exiled to the east, and it was the Nestorian 
monks that first brought the silk worms to Europe. 
It was the revocation of the edict of Nantes, or perse- 
cution, that supplied Spitalfields and other parts of 
England and Europe with silk weavers ; the perse- 
cutions of 1815, 1816, and 1817 sent them to Zurich; 
and now we find that to the same cause Prussia is 
indebted for her knowledge of the same art. 

"Frederick the Great," according to Count de 
Hazzi, " having chanced to see a silk manufactory 
at Torgau, during his military operations in Saxony, 
and having had his attention called to the descendants 
of some French manufacturers, who had emigrated 
from their country, in consequence of the revocation 
of the edict of Nantes, and had established themselves 
at Berlin, gave the first impulse to the regeneration 
of the silk culture in Germany. He ordered planta- 
tions of mulberry trees to be multiplied, extensive 
buildings to be erected, printed instructions on the 
rearing of the silkworm to be distributed; and he 
promised considerable bounties to those who would 
devote themselves to that industry. According to a 
detailed account, the quantity of silk collected in the 
provinces of Magdeburg, Halberstadt, Brandenburgh, 
and Pomerania, amounted to 6849 pounds." 

Mayet relates, that "In the year 1790, the Baron 
de Heintz, the Prussian minister, cultivated the mul- 
berry and produced silk on his estate equal to the 
finest product of the Milanese." Difficulties, how- 
ever, arising from similar mistakes, attended the 
early culture of silk in Prussia, as well as in the rest 
of Germany. " The ill success was in no way as- 
cribed to the climate, but solely to the various blun- 
ders that were committed on its introduction ; among 
which, we will only mention the compulsory measures 
which were employed, the little care with which the 



84 HISTORY OF SILK. 

trees were planted, and the eggs and worms them- 
selves were treated."* 

In 1825, however, successful exertions were re- 
newed by M. Bolzani. He produced upwards of 
1000 pounds of cocoons, or 100 pounds of silk, not in- 
ferior to the finest of upper Italy. From half an ounce 
of eggs, he obtains 41! pounds of cocoons, and his 
silk in Prussia was worth eight dollars a pound. He 
afterwards obtained from the neighbourhood of Lake 
Como, persons well acquainted with the reeling ; and 
his silk was converted into organzine equal to the 
best of Italy. The fact, that 600,000 pounds of raw 
silk being yearly imported into Prussia, requiring the 
export of three millions of dollars, is sufficient to call 
the attention of that country to M. Bolzani's laudable 
undertaking. 

In the year 1782, a fund was appropriated, in 
Austria, to encourage the introduction of the silk 
culture into Bohemia. The edicts of 1795 and 1804 
declare, that " Since it is ascertained that the Italian 
silk is inferior to the Bohemian, and that the inexpe- 
rience of cultivators, not the climate, had been the 
true cause of the small progress which the culture 
had as yet made, the agricultural corporations shall 
hereafter provide lands and buildings, and engage 
the inhabitants, by all the means in their power, in 
the pursuit of it.*' According to the Vienna Court 
Gazette of the 7th of September, 1825, it appears, 
that the cultivation of silk has since grown into 
favour; mistakes in the practice began to be ex- 
ploded, compulsory measures to be abandoned, and 
rewards to successful cultivators, awarded. These 
attempts to promote the silk culture in the Austrian 
dominions are chiefly made in Tyrol, Lombardy, II- 
lyria, Dalmatia, and a part of Hungary ; and " That 
government strives to introduce it also in other 
provinces, with a view of saving the many millions 

* Count de Hazzi, p. 40. 



HISTORY OP SILK. 85 

of florins which go abroad for stuffs of that mate- 
rial."* 

As the subject refers to Sweden, it is sufficient to 
observe that Dr. Lardner quotes the Stockholm 
Journal for March, 1824, and Count de Hazzi the 
Stockholm Gazette for 1825. From the former we 
learn, that " The culture of the mulberry tree is ex- 
tending itself in the provinces ; and silk produced in 
Sweden has confirmed the remark formerly made on 
the superior fineness and solidity of silk grown in the 
north, compared with that from more temperate 
climes. It supports the ordinary preparation and 
dye equally with the best Italian, possesses the same 
brilliancy and the same softness:" from the latter, 
that " The business had again been taken up very 
earnestly, and that a great deal of excellent silk had 
been produced. The Swedish silk has sustained un- 
injured, the ordinary manufacture and dyeing, and 
obtained the brilliancy and softness of the East India 
product." 

So indefatigable was the assiduity of Peter, justly 
called the Great,\ in his endeavours to benefit his 
country, whose interest he viewed with parental care, 
that he forgot not the providential intention of the 
mulberry tree. To him, for the introduction of mul- 
berry plantations, and to the Empress Catharine, for 
that of silk worms, Russia is indebted ; which have 
since been successfully cultivated and reared as high 
as the 54th degree of northern latitude. 

* Count de Hazzi. 

j- Whilst on the pages of history we contemplate the character of a 
sovereign eminent for urging on his ambitious career, for fanning the 
flames of war, or, regardless of consequences, aiming at what he and his 
sycophants, by one of the most egregious perversions of language, call 
glory ! we here and there select another eminent in being intent on the 
promotion, not more of his own, than of his people's interest and pros- 
perity : a course infinitely more beneficent and amiable. Yet in in- 
discriminate language both are called great ! ! Alexander, was called 
great in the former sense, Peter of Russia in the latter. But which of 
the two deserved the epithet, it is not difficult to determine. There we 
see the human butcher of the million ; here a source diffusing benefi- 
cence to his own and future generations. 

8 



86 HISTORY OF SILK. 

A plantation of mulberry trees existed on Ach- 
touba, an island formed by the division* of the Volga 
into two branches near the Caspian Sea. Here the 
empress placed a colony of 400 men, besides women, 
to whom she granted exemption from imposts for ten 
years; and received afterwards their capitation tax 
in silk at ten roubles per pound. Silk worms were 
reared successfully at BauenhorT in Livonia, in the 
latter end of the last century. Manufacturing esta- 
blishments are now regularly formed; fabrics and 
patterns of every kind easily imitated, and the Rus- 
sians anticipate, if they have not already realized, the 
time when they shall become independent of Persia 
for the supply of silk. 

Russia, though generally viewed as a northern 
country, includes climes, in Georgia, as low as the 
parallel of forty degrees, bordering on the ancient 
Armenia. But how Sweden that owns no territory 
south of fifty-five degrees, and that can scarcely grow 
bread stuffs sufficient for her own consumption, suc- 
ceeds in rearing silk worms, whilst England, that 
extends to the parallel of fifty degrees, has abandoned 
the production of the raw material to more southern 
regions, is an inquiry that demands a more satisfac- 
tory solution than any yet attempted. 

The introduction of silk fabrics into England has 
been traced back to a very early period. In the year 
HSO,during the reign of Henry II., the elegance of silks 
began to be an object of admiration. The time when 
silk was somewhat extensively used in that country, 
was, at least, as early as 1251. At the celebration 
of the marriage between Margaret, daughter of 
Henry III. and Alexander III. of Scotland, magnifi- 
cence was displayed such, that 1000 English knights 
appeared richly arrayed in cointises of silk.t But 

* From the town Tzaritzin, lat. 48° 35', to Krasnodar, lat. 46° 38', 
or sixteen miles north of Astrachan. 

■j- We are informed that the sail of the vessel that conveyed Henry V. 
(1415) on his invasion of France, which led to the victory of Agin- 
court, was of purple silk embroidered with the arms of England and 
France. 



HISTORY OF SILK. 87 

the earliest record of silk being manufactured in 
England, is the act of parliament passed in the year 
1363.* Since this act is the first example, of which 
we find any mention, of the English restrictive policy, 
or protective system of its own artisans, at least re- 
lative to silks, and is so much opposed to the subse- 
quent principles of Great Britain on the same point, 
we shall quote this and others more at large than we 
otherwise should, since they constitute an important 
subject for the consideration of nations. We find the 
whole, in reference to this point, more succinctly 
summed up in the Silk Culturist, than elsewhere. 

" Whatever may be the true policy of the United 
States, with regard to freedom of trade, Great Britain 
has ever considered it, both her duty and interest, to 
protect her manufactures ; and to this policy, and to 
the parliamentary encouragement it has received, the 
silk manufacture of England is indebted for its pre- 
sent extent and perfection. 

" It would be tedious to give an analysis of all the 
acts of the British parliament which have been made 
to protect the silk manufacture of England, against 
continental competition, but an examination of a few 
will show the policy of the government. The first 
act for the encouragement and protection of silk ma- 
nufacture is 37 Edw. III., c. 5 and 6. This statute 
was passed in 1363, and restricted manufacturers, 
merchants, &c. to the making and dealing in one par- 
ticular kind of goods at their own election. An 
exception, however, was made in favour of females 
employed in the manufacture of silk. In 1454, the 
statute 33 Henry VI., c. 5, was passed, prohibiting, 
for five years, the importation of twined ribands, 
chains, or girdles," being the only articles then ma- 
nufactured by the silk women of London. In 1463, 
the statute 3 Edward IV., c. 4, was passed, which 
extended the prohibition, during the king's pleasure, 
to several other articles, among which were laces, 

* 37 Edw. III. c. 5 and 6. 



88 HISTORY OF SILK. 

ribands, and fringes of silk, silk twined, silk embroi- 
dered, tires of silk, purses and girdles. In 1482, the 
protection afforded by the provisions of this act was 
withdrawn by its repeal. The consequence was, the 
silk manufacturers were thrown out of employment, 
and reduced to extreme poverty and distress. They 
were, however, soon relieved by its being extended 
for the term of four years. 

"Next followed the statute 19 Hen. VII., c. 21, 
which was passed in 1508, and prohibited the im- 
portation of any manner of silk wrought, either by 
itself, or with any other stuff, in ribands, laces, gir- 
dles, corses, and corses of tissues or points, upon pain 
of forfeiture. These being the only articles of silk 
then manufactured in England, it was by the same 
statute made lawful for all persons to import silk 
either raw or wrought into articles other than those 
enumerated. Towards the close of the reign of 
James I., a merchant of London (Mr. Burlamach) 
introduced a number of silk throwsters, dyers, and 
broad weavers from the Continent, and the fabrication 
of broad goods was commenced. In 1629 manufac- 
turers of this description had increased to such a 
number as to entitle themselves to an act of incorpo- 
ration, under the name of ' the master, wardens, as- 
sistants, and commonalty of silk throwsters/ From 
that period down- to the present time, the silk manu- 
facture of England has been under the constant 
watchfulness of parliament. Statutes have been 
made, repealed, and modified, as its interest or exi- 
gencies required, and the result has been that it has 
been carried to an extent and degree of perfection 
which astonishes the world." We here merely state 
these facts which are of a similar character, and refer 
to national policy; and we, at present, reserve our 
remarks to a future part of this subject. 

So scarce an article do silk stockings seem to have 
been in the reign of Henry VIII., that it has been 
deemed worthy of record as an historic fact, that that 
monarch was compelled, for the occasion of gala days, 



HISTORY OF SILK. 89 

to obtain them from Spain ; and that it was to Sir 
Thomas Gresham that his son, Edward VI., was in- 
debted for a pair. Yet the tyrannical Mary, daughter 
of Henry VIII., seems to have dreaded that the time 
was coming, when blood, more common than aristo- 
cratical, would be covered with silk. Hence her 
sumptuary law of 1554 declares, that "Whoever, ex- 
cept magistrates and persons of higher condition, 
should wear silk in or upon his or her hat, bonnet or 
girdle, scabbard, hose, shoes, or spur leather, shall be 
imprisoned three months and forfeit ten pounds." 
This absurd statute was repealed in the first year of 
James I. Mrs. Montague, however, the queen's silk 
woman, in the year 1560, appears to have tested the 
affinity between royal legs and silk stockings, by a 
present of the latter, not the former, to Elizabeth, 
who was, on this occasion, so gratified, that she could 
never after condescend to wear the plebeian fabric 
of cloth hose. 

Eight years after, the silk manufacture was "so 
much improved as to be considered, by a series of 
legislative enactments continued to the present, an 
object of national importance. But notwithstanding 
all protective measures, a predilection for foreign 
fabrics prevailed to an extent such, that it was said, 
that every maid-servant became a standing revenue 
to the French king of one-half of her wages. 

What the physical consequence of the experiment 
of silk stockings on queen's legs was on the inventive 
faculty in men's heads, we presume not to divine ; 
yet no less strange than true was it, that it was pre- 
cisely at this period, that there was, for the first time, 
introduced an " engine for knitting or weaving silk 
stockings," invented by the Rev. William Lea of St. 
John's College, Cambridge. Hence, soon arose the 
export of quantities of silk hose to Italy. And we 
also learn that the quality was such as to maintain 
its superiority abroad so long after, that in 1730, 
Keysler, who travelled in Italy, remarks, that it was 
common to hear the Neapolitan tradesman recom- 

8* 



90 HISTORY OP SILK. 

mending his hose, by saying, that " they were Eng- 
lish." Mr. Lea, however, at that early period, found 
that he could weave more silk stockings than there 
were legs, except he went to France, to wear them ; 
where he appears to have done well, until the assas- 
sination of the French king, Henry IV., his patron, 
left him in a state of destitution. 

The success of the silk culture in France had a 
powerful influence on James I. of England. " Having 
seen," says he, " that in a few years, our brother, the 
French king, hath, since his coming to that crown, 
both began and brought to perfection the making of 
silk in his country, whereby he has won to himself 
honour, and to his subjects a marvellous increase of 
wealth," — to which preamble he adds, "That from 
the experience of many private persons, who had 
bred silk worms for their pleasure, nothing had ap- 
peared to cause a doubt that they may be nourished 
and reared in England, provided there were a suffi- 
cient number of mulberry trees to supply them with 
food." To provide which James, by circular letters 
in 1608, recommends the planting of mulberry trees 
to the inhabitants of the different counties of England. 

However strong the influence of royal recommen- 
dation may be, yet that of climate, opposed to it in 
this case, is said to have prevailed. According to 
documents existing in 1620, it appears that the peo- 
ple were willing, and the mulberry trees grew, as if 
by royal mandate, but neither the climate nor the silk 
worms were obedient subjects, and the king, there- 
fore, turned his attention to the American colonies. 
The project, however, relative to the production of 
the raw material in England, was renewed in 1629, 
and in 1718 ; also in Ireland so late as in 1815, with 
a similar consequence. But since the white mulberry 
is said to have grown there, and to have put forth 
shoots in the first year, twenty inches in length, the silk 
worms to have been successfully reared for private 
amusement, the raw material to have been produced 
in the colder and more northern climate of Sweden, 



HISTORY OF SILK. 91 

and the humidity of that of Great Britain, to be capa- 
ble of correction by a Dandoliere, or cocoonery on the 
plan of Count Dandolo, no reason completely satis- 
factory, especially since the discovery of the multi- 
caulis, has been as yet assigned, for the want of suc- 
cess in the production of raw silk either in England 
or Ireland. 

How far, or on what occasions, consistently with 
the welfare of the several trading communities of a 
nation, the " powers that be," whether invested in 
one or more individuals, can interfere with its com- 
mercial regulations, is, as already observed, an im- 
portant inquiry ; and it is the business of history, if 
not to decide, at least to produce facts to illustrate 
this question. In conformity with this view, the re- 
cord of the events mentioned in the note subjoined, 
together with Dr. Lardner's remarks cannot be well 
omitted.* 

* The progress made in the weaving of broad silks, " May be further 
collected from the terms of a proclamation issued in the year 1630, by 
Charles I., setting forth, that the trade in silk within the realm, by the 
importation thereof raw from foreign parts, and throwing, dyeing, and 
working the same into manufactures here at home, is much increased 
within a few years past. But a fraud in the dyeing thereof being lately 
discovered, by adding to the weight of silk in the dye, beyond a just 
proportion, by a false and deceitful mixture in the ingredient used in 
dyeing, whereby also the silk is weakened and corrupted, and the colour 
made worse ; wherefore we strictly command, that no silk dyer do hereafter 
use any slip, alder-bark, filings of irons, or other deceitful matter in 
dyeing silk, either black or coloured ; that no silk shall be dyed any other 
black but Spanish black, and not of the dye called London black, or 
light weight, neither shall they dye any silk before the gum he fair 
hailed off from the silk being raw." The same monarch, in the year 
1638, issued directions removing' in part, the prohibitions imposed by 
his former proclamation, and permitting such silk to be dyed upon the 
gum, commonly called hard silk, as was proper for making tufted taf- 
fetas, figured satins, fine silk ribands, and ferret ribands both black and 
coloured ; and as his reason for this departure from his former directions 
stated, with a degree of candour not always admitted into the edicts 
of princes, that he had now become better informed upon the subject. 
This order further directed, that no stuffs made or mixed with silk should 
be imported, if of a less breadth than a full half yard, nail and half nail, 
on pain of forfeiture." 

" It will be remarked that this misguided and unfortunate prince thus 
took upon himself to regulate, by the authority of proclamations, matters 



92 HISTORY OP SILK. 

Though in the preamble of the act passed in 1661, 
(13 and 14 Car. II., c. 15,) we are informed that the 
company of silk throwsters in London, then employed 
40,000 men, women, and children ; yet the existence 
of any such number engaged in the silk trade, at any 
one time in London, prior to the revocation of the 
edict of Nantes, is, perhaps, notwithstanding some- 
what questionable. 

It is an acknowledged fact on the pages of history, 
that no other event has contributed so much towards 
a general diffusion of knowledge in relation to the 
culture and manufacture of silk, as religious persecu- 
tion. Those bigoted gentlemen of the monoculi genus, 
who would machine men to think precisely as they 
do, whether they can or not, or screw them down to 
it by the razor wheel, little dream how great a bless- 
ing their own act is conferring on others, whilst it is 
inflicting indelible infamy on themselves. Previous 
to the accession of Henry IV. to the throne of France, 
in 1594, the manufacture of silk was principally con- 
ducted by the Huguenots, a protestant sect in France. 
The Huguenots quietly submitted to the government 
of Henry, until he sold his conscience to him that 
purchases souls for secular considerations at the city 
that has undertaken to manufacture faith for the 
world. The defection of the king, who had been 
avowedly their protector, alarmed the Huguenots, 
and threatened the tranquillity of his reign. In this 

which had been previously ordered by acts of parliament. In many of 
these orders the king was guided by his own impulses, or influenced 
by the persuasions of others, rather than any sound or enlightened views 
of the nature of commerce ; and he endeavoured to render the trade of 
his country subservient to his political designs. In another proclama- 
tion, issued by him for the reforming of abuses, which it was alleged 
had crept into practice in the manufacture and breadth of silks ; the 
Weaver's Company were empowered to admit into their commonalty, 
a competent number of such persons, whether strangers or natives, as 
had exercised the trade of weaving for one year at least; provided the 
parties so admitted should be conformable to the laws of the realm, and 
to the constitution of the church of England ; as though the fabrics 
which they wrought were susceptible of contamination, if touched by 
heretical hand c '" 



HISTORY OF SILK. 93 

dilemma, two opposite interests to serve, a compro- 
mise of some kind was necessary. From motives of 
policy rather than principle, the heads of the party 
of Nantes were assembled, and the celebrated edict, 
which bears the name of that place, was passed 
granting to the Huguenots every thing necessary for 
their security ; and for their satisfaction it was further 
declared that the edict should be irrevocable. 

Notwithstanding this, this said irrevocable edict 
was revoked by Louis XIV. on the 23d of October, 
1685. Thus while the worship of the Huguenots was 
suppressed, their churches demolished, and their 
ministers banished, the protestant laity were forbid- 
den, under the most rigorous penalties to quit the 
kingdom. France, however, by this measure, lost 
more than half a million of her most industrious and 
useful subjects; an event that soon proved highly be- 
neficial to other countries, which those who decreed 
that measure had not the skill to foresee. About 
70,000 of these refugees made their way into England 
and Ireland ; of which number, a large part, particu- 
larly those who were conversant with the fabrication 
of silks, settled at Spitalfields, and engaged in the 
manufacture of brocades, satins, black and coloured 
mantuas, black paduasoys, ducapes, watered tabbies, 
alamodes, lustrings, and black velvets, of the manu- 
facture of which the English were previously igno- 
rant. To the above mentioned intolerant and perfi- 
dious transaction, England is indebted for a knowledge 
of that manufacture for which she is now so celebrated. 
The silk trade, generally, was by this means improved. 
The English received the refugees with hospitality, 
and their industry was encouraged with a zeal that 
declared, according to the spirit of the times, that the 
wearing of silk, under those circumstances, was a 
proof of attachment to the protestant cause and of 
that charity which the protestant's gospel enjoins to- 
be practised towards the unfortunate, whether friend 
or foe. 

Previous to the settlement of the French refugees, 



94 HISTORY OP SILK. 

lustrings and alamode silks were imported; but the 
perfection to which those articles were soon brought, 
by the Spitalfield weavers, rendered further importa- 
tion unnecessary. The persons engaged therein were, 
therefore, incorporated, and by two successive acts, 
(1392 and 1698,) protected against foreign competition. 
But neither the parliament nor the manufacturers had 
the prescience to guard against what rendered such 
protection nugatory. A change in the public taste 
directed the current of custom into a channel that 
caused the expenditure of the company's capital to 
be unproductive, except to serve as a lesson on the 
precarious tenure of objects, whose foundation is not 
necessity, but caprice and fashion. 

France and England by the treaty of Utrecht in 
1713, contemplated a sort of reciprocity, by which, 
on the payment of a trifling ad valorem duty, the 
manufacturers of each kingdom were to be admitted 
into the other. But no sooner do subjects of this na- 
ture become topics of national discussion than we see 
two judges in the court. The one pronounces the 
policy of such free trade or reciprocity to be liberal and 
enlightened, and the other affirms that it is injurious 
to the interests of domestic manufacture, and ruinous 
to the artisan. Great names are, and have long been, 
enlisted on each alternative of this dilemma; nations 
have been assembled and volumes expended on this 
discussion, but, " adhuc sub judice lis est" the 
question is yet unsettled, except in minds possessed 
of only partial premises. These generally have the 
temerity to decide ; though it is well known that 
many advantages, equal or unequal, belong to each 
scale ; and it is necessary to have all the weights in 
on each side, before we can perceive to which the 
correct balance inclines. 

Had Dr. Lardner and others, who have written on 
the History of Silk, not discovered an inclination, 
from ex parte evidence, to come to a decision, we 
should have felt ourselves happily released from this 
subject, though of national importance. But occu- 



HISTORY OF SILK. 95 

pying at present, somewhat similar ground, it remains 
onty to say, " sequor non passibus acquis," to supply, 
however, facts as yet furnished by none, leaving it 
rather to others, and to that further experience, which 
time alone can give, to pronounce the verdict not of 
one, but of nations, on this vital question in political 
economy, in which the silk as well as any other ma- 
nufacture is involved. 

By some the protective system is placed on a level 
with any monopoly that benefits the few, but op- 
presses the many ; not knowing, however, that when 
the artisan is encouraged he is rendered a consumer 
as well as a producer to the full extent of his wages, 
and this supports domestic industry, of far greater 
consequence than any foreign trade whatever, that 
takes specie out instead of bringing it in. Others tell 
us, that when the productions of art are protected, 
the inventive faculty slumbers, and if foreign compe- 
tition be removed, improvement ceases. This is spe- 
cious : may pass off as a flash note amongst the 
many; but will not weigh against harder coin. 
Though the foreign merchant be not in the market, 
domestic competition exists; and the competitor at 
home naturally looks abroad for materials to give 
him a precedency which his neighbour cannot other- 
wise obtain. Besides, so restricted are many articles 
in their use, that all improvement beyond a certain 
point is a matter of mere secondary consequence, the 
creature more of fancy than service ; and not of any 
importance to constitute an argument to oppose the 
welfare and comfort of the many thousands that com- 
pose an industrious community. 

Neither has the American press been unemployed 
in lauding the late Mr. Huskisson to the skies, on the 
score of his opposition to the navigation act, his free 
trade and reciprocity bills; and, of course, for his 
pseudo services to the English manufacturers of silk. 
Had not the English silk weavers, cotton spinners, 
and operatives of all classes, had many enemies in 
the shape of false friends, why do they come over 



96 HISTORY OF SILK. 

here ? By Huskisson's enlightened patriotism the 
ships of continental Europe became in possession of 
the carrying trade of Great Britain ; they would re- 
ceive only hard cash for their cargoes, without taking 
a single box or bale of English manufacture in re- 
turn,* whilst thousands of British ships, involving 
millions of property, were rotting in the docks. The 
sufferings of myriads of silk weavers at Spitalflelds, 
Macclesfield, and Dublin employed Michael Thomas 
Saddler,! and other powerful advocates against the 
sophistry of Huskisson, Fitzgerald, and Thompson, 
and other political neologists ; but they were opposed 
by the fallacy that regards the extent of production 
without reference to the profit of the manufacturer, 
or benefit to the artisan. Huskisson's policy was 
liberal in theory, but slavery in practice; and so 
enlightened in the abstract, as to deprive forever of 
education the offspring of the labourer, who had to 
toil from eight to fourteen hours in the day to supply 
the deficiency of his parent's weekly earnings. Those 
that would compass heaven and earth to serve the 
foreign at the expense of the home trade, were loud in 
their acclamations against slavery amongst the blacks, 
without having any wish to remember that a larger 
volume of slavery, produced by their own measures, 
existed amongst the whites of a realm, whose shores 
were said to be such, that the slave at the moment 
of contact with them became instantly free ! ! 

The year 1718 was rendered important in the his- 
tory of silk in consequence of the unexampled assi- 
duity of a youth to introduce in England, the throwst- 
ing mill. Relative to this subject we are furnished 
with the following interesting facts by Dr. Lardner. 



* This, as may be attested by authentic documents, was, in many 
cases, literally the fact. 

+ The author of " Ireland, its Evils, and their Remedies ;" also of an 
able work, involving a very singular theory, on " the Laws of the In- 
crease and Decrease of Population." Few have given so many proofs, 
as it refers to the secular concerns of men, of their possession of sterling 
philanthropy as M. T. Saddler. 



HISTORY OF SILK. 97 

"Up to the year 1718, our machinery was so defect- 
ive, that this country was, in a great degree, dependent 
on the throwsters of Italy for the supply of organzined 
silk ; but at that time, Mr. John Lombe* of Derby, 



* "There were three brothers, Thomas, Henry, and John; the first 
was one of the sheriffs of London, at the accession of George II., in 1727, 
on which occasion, he was knighted. About this time, the Italians had 
introduced great improvement in the art of throwing silk, and rendered 
it impossible for the Lombes, who were engaged in the silk throwing 
business in London, to bring their goods into the market upon any thing- 
like terms of equality with the Italian. The younger brother was a lad 
at that time. By the laws of the Italians, it was made death, for any 
one to discover any thing connected with the silk manufacture : with 
this addition, the forfeiture of his goods, and his person and name to 
be painted outside of the prison walls, hanging to the gallows by one 
foot, with an inscription to remain as an indelible mark of infamy. 
Young Lombe, however, was not to be deterred. On his arrival, and 
before he became known, he went, accompanied by a friend, to see the 
silk works. No person was admitted except when the machinery was 
in action, and even then he was hurried through the rooms with the 
most jealous caution. The celerity of the machinery rendered it im- 
possible for Mr. Lombe to comprehend all the dependencies, and first 
springs of so extensive and complicated a work. He went with differ- 
ent persons in various habits, as a gentleman, a priest, or a lady, and 
he was very generous with his money ; but he could never find an op- 
portunity of seeing the machinery put in motion, or of giving to it that 
careful attention which was his object. Despairing of obtaining ade- 
quate information from such cursory inspection, he bethought himself 
of associating with some clergyman ; and being a man of letters, he suc- 
ceeded in ingratiating himself with the priest who confessed the family 
to which the works belonged. He seems to have opened his plans, 
partly at least, to this person, and it is certain that he found means to 
obtain his co-operation. According to the scheme adopted, Mr. Lombe 
disguised himself as a poor youth in want of employment. The priest 
then introduced him to the directors of the work, and gave him a good 
character for honesty and diligence, and described him as inured to 
hardships. He accordingly engaged as filature boy, to superintend a 
spinning engine. His mean appearance procured him accommodation 
in the place which his design made the most acceptable to him. While 
others slept, he was awake, and diligently employed in his arduous and 
dangerous undertaking. He had possessed himself of a dark lantern, 
tinder box, wax candles, and a case of mathematical instruments. In 
the daytime, these were secreted in a hole under the stairs where he 
used to sleep. He then went on making drawings of eveiy part of this 
grand and useful machinery ; the priest often inquired after his boy, 
and through his agency, Lombe conveyed his drawings to Messrs. Glo- 
ver and Unwins, at Leghorn, the correspondents of the Lombes, who 
made models from them, which were despatched piecemeal to England, 

9 



98 



HISTORY OP SILK. 



having in the disguise of a common workman, suc- 
ceeded in taking accurate drawings of silk throwsting 
machinery in Piedmont, erected a stupendous mill for 
that purpose at Derby, and obtained a patent for the 
sole and exclusive property in the same, during the 
space of fourteen years. This grand machine was 
constructed with 26,586 wheels and 97,746 move- 
ments, which worked 73,726 yards of organzine silk 
thread with every revolution of the water wheel, and 
as this revolved three times in each minute, the almost 
inconceivable quantity of 318,504,960 yards of organ- 
zine could be produced daily ! Only one water wheel 
was employed to give motion to the whole of this 
machinery, the contrivance of which was such that 
any one or more of the movements might be controlled 
or stopped, without obstructing the continued action 
of the rest. The building wherein this machinery 
was erected was of great extent, being five stories in 
height, and occupying one-eighth of a mile in length. 
So long a time was occupied in the construction of 
this machinery, and so vast was the outlay it occa- 
sioned, that the original duration of the patent proved 
insufficient for the adequate remuneration of its 
founder ; who, on these grounds, applied to parlia- 
ment, in the year 1731, for an extension of the term 
for which his privilege had been granted. This, 
however, in consideration of the great national im- 



in bales of silk. After Lombe had completed his design, he remained 
at the mill until some English ship should be on the point of sailing for 
England. When this happened, he left the works and hastened on 
board. Meanwhile his absence had occasioned suspicion, and an Italian 
brig was despatched in pursuit, but the English vessel happily proved 
the better sailer of the two, and he escaped. It was said that the priest 
was put to the torture, but another states that after Mr. Lombe's return 
to England, an Italian priest was much in his company, and it is the 
opinion that this was the priest in question. The common account of 
Mr. Lombe's death is, that the Italians exasperated at the injury done 
their trade, sent over to England an artful woman, who associated with 
Mr. Lombe's Italian servants engaged in his works, and having gained 
over one, poison was administered, of which, it is said, Mr. Lombe died 
on the premises, on the 16th November, 1722, in the twenty -ninth year 
of his age." — Roberts' Manual; Silk Grower, Sfc. 



HISTORY OP SILK. 99 

portance of the object, which was opposed to its con- 
tinued limitation in the hands of any individual, was 
not granted; but parliament voted the sum of i2 14,000 
to Sir Thomas Lombe, as some consideration for the 
eminent services rendered by him to the nation, in 
discovering with so much personal risk and labour, 
and in bringing to perfection, at great expense, a work 
so beneficial to the kingdom. The grant being made 
upon the sole condition that competent persons should 
be allowed to execute an exact model of the machi- 
nery, to be deposited in such a place as his majesty 
should appoint, in order to diffuse and perpetuate the 
manufacture. The act authorizing the issue of the 
money mentions among other causes justifying the 
grant, u the obstruction offered to Sir T. Lombe's un- 
dertaking by the king of Sardinia, in prohibiting the 
exportation of the raw silk which the engines were 
intended to work." 

The history of the silk manufacture in England 
after this, abounds with a multitude of acts of parlia- 
ment, of local consequence, and therefore more suited 
to the English than to the American reader. They 
are standing evidence, however, of what importance 
this branch of national industry was estimated by the 
British legislature ; and as documents they are valu- 
able in affording a series of statistical testimony, of 
the constantly increasing magnitude and prosperity 
of this manufacture in the British Isles. 

In the year 1783, the different branches of the silk 
manufacture amounted in value to £3, 350,000. Soon 
after the year 1825, the number of throwsting mills 
in the country were registered at 266 ; of spindles at 
1,1S0,000; and of the looms employed in Spitalfields 
alone at 17,000. 

In the year 1821, we find the following instructive 
extracts from the minutes of evidence before both 
houses of parliament on the subject of the silk trade 
and manufacture. 

" Silk is principally imported from Bengal, China, 



100 HISTORY OP SILK. 

Italy, and Turkey. The average of late years, 
amounts fully to 1,800,000 lbs. Bengal sends near 
800,000 lbs. ; China about 100,000 lbs. ; Turkey the 
same. The remainder comes from Italy. The duties 
on raw silk are as follows; Bengal 4s.; Italian, Tur- 
key, and China, 5s. l\d. per pound. Italian organ- 
zine, 14^. 6d. to 14s. l\d. per pound. Prices paid 
for organzine in England, 7.9. to 10s. per pound. 
The waste is from three to fifteen per cent. No 
organzine is made in France ; they prepare their 
own trams and singles. China silk is applicable to 
hosiery; the Italian is not." 

" The price for making organzine in Italy is from 
3s. to 4s. per pound. In England it costs from 7*. to 
10s. per pound. The French are superior to the 
English in ribbons, but inferior in hosiery. China 
silk goods are heavier than English, but not of a bet- 
ter quality. The China raw silk is equal to most 
Italian, and better than any Bengal." 

" In the Bengal silk there is a kind of cottony or 
fuzzy substance, which is thrown up into a pile or 
knap when woven. The price of Bengal silk per 
pound, duty included, is from 14s. to 30s.; that of 
Italian from 18s. to 355." 

" Nearly 2,000,000 pounds of raw and thrown silks 
are annually imported into England. This gives 
employment to 40,000 hands in throwsting it for the 
weaver, and their wages are £350,000. Half a mil- 
lion pounds of soap, and a large proportion of the 
costly dye stuffs are consumed, at a farther expense 
of £300,000; and £265,000 more are paid to winders 
to prepare it. The number of looms may be taken 
at 40,000; and the weavers, warpers, mechanics, &c. 
to be 80,000, whose wages amount to £3,000,000. 
Including infants and dependents, 400,000 mouths will 
be fed by this manufacture ; the amount of which 
may be estimated at £10,000,000." 

" The price of dyeing at Lyons is 15 sous, or l\d. 
per pound ; and colours 24 sous, or Is. In England 



HISTORY OP SILK. 101 

the price of the first is 2s., and of the latter from 
2s. 6d. to 45. The drawback on silk goods in Eng- 
land is 125. per pound, on ribands, 10s. The labour 
in preparing raw silk, affords much more employ- 
ment to the country producing it, than any other raw 
material. The defect complained of in the Bengal 
silk, is in the preparation. There is nothing in the 
nature of the silk to render it inapplicable to every 
purpose of Italian silk." 

In the year 1824, the high duty on the importation 
of raw silk was abandoned for one merely nominal ; 
that on thrown silk was reduced nearly one-half; and 
the admission of foreign manufactured goods was 
rendered legal in 1826, under an ad valorem duty 
equivalent to about thirty per cent.* 

* In regard to the silk manufacture, the duty required in order to 
maintain the English weavers in the same relative position which they 
already hold with those of France is much lower than might, without 
inquiry, be imagined. Independent of duties, the entire difference in 
the cost of one pound of the best thrown silk, when manufactured into 
sixteen yards of Gros de Naples, is 5s. 6c?., or barely fourteen and a half 
per cent., as appears by the following statement. 

Comparative estimate of the cost of one pound of silk when manufac- 
tured into Gros de Naples at Lyons and London. 

In Lyons. 

£ s. d. 

Price current of organzine 25s. per lb., 8 oz. of which 12 6 

Ditto of tram 225. 6c?. per lb., 8 oz. of which Oil 3 

Dyeing, warp, and short 11 

1 4 8 
Add 4 oz. for loss in dyeing and waste to make 16 oz. when 

manufactured 6 2 

s. d. 1 ia 10 

Winding and warping I 3 

Weaving 16 yards, at 4^c?. .6 

7 3 

1 18 1 
Difference in favour of the French manufacturer 5 6 

2 3 7 



102 HISTORY OP SILK. 

For the information of the exporter, the scale of 
duties at present chargeable on the importation of 
raw, thrown, and manufactured silks, is furnished in 
the note below.* 

In London. 

£ s. d. 

Price current of fine tram silk in Italy 1 2 6 

Export duty and expenses 6£ 

Carriage to Calais. 3^ 

1 2 4 

Eight oz. of which 11 2 

£ s. d. 
Price current of fine organzine in Piedmont. .1 3 

Duty and expenses. 9| 

Carriage to Calais 3£ 

1 4 1 

Eight oz. of which 12 0£ 

Dyeing, warp, and short 1 6 

Pour oz. for loss in dyeing and waste to make 16 oz. when 

manufactured 6 2 



s. d. 1 10 10£ 

Winding and warping 2 Of 

Weaving 16 yards, reckoning 1 oz. to the yard, at 
8d. per yard 10 8 

12 8i 



2 3 7 



* Knubs, or husks of silk, and waste of silk, the cwt, Is. Raw silk, 
the lb., Id. Thrown silk, not dyed, namely, singles, the lb., Is. 6d. 
Tram, the lb., 2s. Organzine and crape silk, the lb., 3s. 6d. Thrown 
silk, dyed, namely, singles or tram, the lb., 3s. Organzine or crape silk, 
the lb., 5s. 2d. Manufactures of silk, or of silk mixed with any other 
material, namely, silk or satin, plain, the lb., lis., or, at the option of 
the officers of the customs, for every £100 of the value, £25. Silk or 
satin figured or brocaded, the lb., 15s. ; or, at the option of the officers 
of the customs for every £100 of the value, £30. Gauze, plain, the lb., 
17s. or 30 per cent, ad valorem. Gauze striped, figured, or brocaded, 
the lb., 27s. 6c?., or 30 per cent, ad valorem. Velvet, plain, the lb., 22s., 
or 30 per cent, ad valorem. Velvet figured, the lb., 27s. 6c?., or 30 per 
cent, ad valorem. Ribands, embossed or figured with velvet, the lb., 
17s., or 30 per cent, ad valorem. And if mixed with gold, silver, or 
other metals, in addition to the above rates 10s. per lb. Fancy silk, 
net, or tricot, the lb., 24s. Plain silk lace, or net, the square yard, Is. 4d. 



HISTORY OF SILK. 103 

We may judge of the immense quantity of raw 
and thrown silk annually imported into Great Bri- 
tain, from the following quotations : 

The importation was, in 

lbs. lbs. 

1819, of raw silk 1,480,990 

— thrown 301,588 

1,782,578 

1820, of raw silk. . . 1,702,416 

— thrown 309,953 

2,012,369 

1821, of raw silk 1,940,516 

— thrown 350,209 

2,290,725 

1822, of raw silk 2,037,415 

— thrown 370,273 

2,407,688 

1823, of raw silk 2,085,972 

— thrown 346,314 

2,432,286 

1824, of raw silk 3,540,910 

— thrown 452,469 

3,993,379 

1825, of raw silk 3,030,756 

— thrown 556,642 

3,587,398 

1826, of raw silk 1,955,042 

— thrown 289,325 

2,244,367 

1827, of raw silk 3,755,242 

— thrown. 454,015 

4,209,257 

Manufactures of silk, or of silk mixed with any other material, the 
produce of, and imported from places within the limits of the East 
India Company's charter, for every £100 of the value, £20. Millinery 
of silk, or of which the greater part of the material is of silk, namely, tur- 
bans or caps, each 15s. Hats or bonnets, each 25*. Dresses, each 50s., 
or 40 per cent, ad valorem. Manufactures of silk, or of silk and any 
other material, not particularly enumerated, or otherwise charged with 
duty, for every £100 of the value, £30. Articles of the manufacture 
of silk, or of silk and any other material, wholly or part made up, not 
particularly enumerated, or otherwise charged with duty, 30 per cent. 
On the exportation of silk manufactured goods, government allows the 
following drawbacks. For every pound weight of manufactured goods, 
composed of silk only, 3 v. Qd. Of silk and cotton mixed, one-half being 
silk, Is. 2d. Of silk and worsted, one-half being silk, 7d. To prevent 
the introduction of contraband goods, the importation of foreign wrought 
silks is restricted to the ports of London, Dublin and Dover, and the pri- 
vilege is confined to ships of not less than 70 tons burden. 



104 HISTORY OP SILK. 

The importation was, in 

1828, of raw silk 4,162,550 

— thrown 385,262 

4,547,812 

1834, of raw silk 4,340,000 

or of raw and waste silk 4,449,456 

From this we learn that England is now importing, 
nearly at the rate of four millions and a half of raw 
silk annually, or a quantity in value nearly equal to 
$22,000,000 : the whole of which might be supplied 
by the wide growing silk climes of the United 
States. 

Of the quantity of raw silk imported, above quoted 
for the year 1834, it is said, that 1,235,104 lbs. were 
from France; 1,758,637 lbs. from the British East 
Indies; 562,834 lbs. from China; 419,368 lbs. from 
Turkey and Greece, and 403,214 lbs. from Italy. 

But it is not the least interesting part of the story, 
that an American gentleman, recently travelling in 
England, was informed that of the raw silk imported 
into that country, 61,105 lbs. in 1834, and 27,236 lbs. 
in 1835, were supplied by the United States. 

Of the 4,340,000 lbs. of raw silk imported in 1834, 

The cost is stated at $20,125,205 

Cost of dyeing ditto 1,640,000 

Of winding, weaving, and finishing 18,616,695 

Interest on capital, wear, tear, &c 13,077,605 

$53,459,505 



The amounts of the value of the manufacture, as 
to each species of fabric, for 1834, is quoted thus : 

Broad silks $18,815,000 

Ribands 8,415,000 

Handkerchiefs 2,400,250 

Crapes 1,547,440 

Silk hose and gloves 1,822,450 

Sewing silks 1 ,248,000 

Mixed goods 12,480,000 

Miscellaneous , 3,246,660 

Sundries 1,892,125 

These various manufactures give employment to 



HISTORY OF SILK. 105 

more than 208,000 people ; of which there are en- 
gaged in 

Persons. 

Broad silks 55,603 

Ribands 27,765 

Handkerchiefs 9,5 18 

Silk hose and gloves 7,350 

Sewing silk 1,970 

Mixed goods 49,452 

Miscellaneous 16,726 

In other kinds 27,832 

The declared value of British exports of manufac- 
tured silks in 1836, amounted to £917,822. Its real 
value probably £1,200,000 or $6,000,000. Of which, 
we learn, that the United States took about the value 
of $1,200,000. But the most singular fact is, that 
France, so recently as 1834, an exporting country of 
wrought silks to England, to a very considerable 
amount annually, is now of the same article import- 
ing from England, and in 1836, to the value of 
$317,000. This is attributed to the constantly ad- 
vancing improvements in the manufacture made in 
Great Britain. 

The whole, whether for home consumption or ex- 
port, from all the evidence we have on the subject, 
appears to be on the rapid increase to that degree, 
that the value of silk fabrics produced in IS 37-8, 
it is expected, will not fall short of $75,000,000. 

Before we take our leave of the history of silk, so 
far as it respects what is commonly called the old 
ivorld, and cross an ocean to contemplate the rising 
of a new, and probably soon a greater theatre for the 
growth of the mulberry, and the rearing of the little 
industry-stirring insect in the new ivorld, where, per- 
haps, at no distant period hence, a scene of prosperous 
activity may unfold historic pages not even yet anti- 
cipated, that may vie in extent and celebrity with 
that of silk Empire the First ; we may be allowed 
to take a transient visit here and there to regions 
where people of merely insular and narrower shores 
are setting noble examples to us who are in possession 
of one of the choicest parts of a vast continent, so 



106 HISTORY OF SILK. 

large that we ourselves scarcely know its length 
or breadth, and what is more, scarcely yet do we 
know the varied and interminable blessings of its 
many diversified soils and climates : " fortunatos 
nimium, bona si sua norint, Agricolas."* 

If any place could appear not congenial to the cul- 
ture of silk, we should have thought it to be the island 
of Malta, generally a barren rock, that absolutely 
borrows soil imported from Sicily and elsewhere. 
Yet even here, the mulberry not only grows and the 
silk worm thrives, but the untiring enterprise of its 
inhabitants, determined not to be disappointed by its 
new competitor, Egypt, in the the cotton market, is 
bending its attention to silk with every promise of a 
favourable result. It is also said, that even on this 
factitious soil, the mulberry grows more rapidly than 
in Italy. What may not be expected, when even 
rocks, if invited, refuse not to be prolific ? And what 
can the island of St. Helena be but a rock to have 
withstood the wash of the mighty Atlantic, ever since 
the days, perhaps, of Peleg ; and here, also, we learn 
that mulberry trees are flourishing, and that success, 
commensurate with the insular limits of this solitary 
isle, are expected. 

The Isles of France and Bourbon are more 
favoured, since the soil and climate are such as to 
produce Turkey porn and rice twice a year; and also 
bananas, oranges, citrons, and tamarinds ; and in 
company with these, we shall now find the mystic 
transformation of the produce of a tree into the silken 
robe. The French originally attempted to introduce 
the culture here, but the colonies afterwards came 
into the possession of the English ; and we learn that 
the governor of the Mauritius, Sir Robert Farquhar, 
procured, in the latter part of the year 1815, silk 
worm eggs from Bengal, and intrusted them to the 
care of M. Chazal. In March following, about 80,000 
cocoons were obtained, and a fourth part reserved for 

* ye husbandmen, how extremely fortunate, if only ye knew your 
own privileges. — Virg. 



HISTORY OF SILK. 107 

reproduction on the following season. Notwithstand- 
ing this, and the distribution of silk worms to many 
of the colonists, M. Chazel alone, in 1817, produced 
116 pounds of silk, or one bale, which was conveyed 
to England in the following year ; when he claimed 
the premium offered by the Society for the Encou- 
ragement of Arts for the growth of silk in the British 
colonies. The most eminent silk brokers in London 
pronounced the silk to be of fair quality, and M. 
Chazal obtained the premium. 

The Silk Culturist informs us that " The govern- 
ment of Cuba is making an effort to introduce the 
culture of silk in that island, with a fair prospect of 
success. Being situated between twenty and twenty- 
three and a half degrees of latitude, the mulberry will 
be constantly in foliage, and a regular succession of 
crops may be made during the whole year." 

M. d'Homergue says, " I have been informed that 
Messrs. Chabaut and Latour of Nimes, were called 
to Mexico some years ago (prior to 1829) to intro- 
duce the culture of silk. With the particulars of their 
success I am not acquainted, but it. is generally un- 
derstood at Nimes that they both died rich from this 
culture. I have since been informed, that they made 
beautiful sewing silk at Mexico, which has been ac- 
knowledged in France to be superior to any made in 
that country. The French manufacturers said they 
could easily make such silk, but that it would cost 
them too much. I presume the Mexicans employ 
their best material in that manufacture, because they 
have not yet learned to put it to a better use. I am 
informed also that raw silk has been exported from 
this country to Mexico, and sold there at a great 
profit, although it was very inferior to that of this 
country ; even at eighteen dollars a pound." 

Even the inhabitants of Lower Canada, as well as 
those of Sweden, contemplate the successful introduc- 
tion amongst them of the silk culture. Matter of fact 
and history has taught them that the state of Vermont 
is suitable to the growth of the mulberry and the rear- 



108 HISTORY OP SILK. 

ing, at the proper season, of the silk worm; and, 
therefore, they infer, because the winters of Lower 
Canada are even milder than those of Vermont, that 
they will succeed amongst them. The Farmers 7 
Advocate, published at Sherbrooke, informs us, that 
the white mulberry not only endures the climate, but 
grows luxuriantly in the southern and eastern town- 
ships. The Canadians are even so sanguine as to 
hope, that if due care be employed, the colonies of 
British America, may supply Great Britain with more 
of the raw material than she imports from any coun- 
try, except those beyond the Cape of Good Hope. 

NORTH AMERICA. 

James the I. having had fourteen years, since his 
recommendation, in 1608, of the silk culture, to the 
several counties in England, to discover the imprac- 
ticability, in consequence of the climate, of rearing 
silk worms there, turned his attention to North 
America; and in the year 1622, in order that his 
manufacturers at home might draw their supplies of 
the raw material from his colonies abroad, urged the 
Virginia Company to promote the cultivation of 
mulberry trees, and the breeding of silk worms. To 
the attainment of this object, James did not fail to 
send over silk worm eggs, white mulberry trees, and 
printed instructions.* He gave special instructions 
to the Earl of Southampton, to urge the cultivation 
of silk in the colonies in preference to tobacco, to 
which his majesty appears to have had an implacable 
aversion. The earl, therefore, wrote to the governor 
and council, desiring them to compel the colonists to 
plant mulberry trees, which met the concurrence of 
the colonial assembly in 1623. The act passed in 
1656, describes the culture of silk as the most profit- 

* Written by Mr. John Bonoeil, a member of the Virginia Company, 
who was so confident of the practicability of the plan, that he asserted 
that with a sufficient number of hands, as much silk might be raised in 
Virginia as to supply all Christendom. 



HISTORY OF SILK. 109 

able for the country, and a penalty of ten pounds of 
tobacco was to be imposed on every planter who 
should fail to plant ten mulberry trees on every 100 
acres of land in his possession ; but a premium of 
4000 lbs. of tobacco was to be given as an induce- 
ment to remain in the country for the purpose of 
producing silk ; and in the following year a premium 
of 10,000 lbs. of tobacco was to be awarded to the 
exporter of £200 worth of the raw material; and 
5000 lbs. of tobacco to the producer of 1000 lbs. of 
wound silk in one year. After various amendments, 
this system of legislative rewards and penalties ceased 
in 1669. "While Sir William Berkely was in Eng- 
land, on the occasion of his reappointment as govern- 
or, in conversation with the king, his majesty strongly 
recommended the culture of silk, and as an induce- 
ment to the colonists to attend to his advice, men- 
tioned, i that he had worn some of the silk of Virginia, 
and found it to be not inferior to that raised in other 
countries.' "* 

Though the reason why this first essay towards the 
culture of silk in Virginia was not successful has not 
been assigned, yet a sufficient one is given in the fol- 
lowing extract from a scarce work, entitled "the Trade 
and Navigation of Great Britain and Ireland, by 
Joshua Gee," published in 1760. "He" (James I.) 
"and his courtiers seemed to be very fond of the under- 
taking, and letters were written to Virginia to promote 
that manufacture. Some small progress was made 
there, and letters passed between the planters and gen- 
tlemen here ; but as soon as they thought that they 
had engaged the planters to begin upon it, instead of 
promoting it heartily, and sending some able and 
skilful persons to direct the undertaking, they threw 
all upon the planters, and that noble design came to 
nothing ; whereas that of France succeeded to the 
immense profit of that kingdom." Under these cir- 
cumstances, not through any natural disabilities but 

* Roberts' Manual. 
10 



110 HISTORY OF SILK. 

from the want of proper connexions and facilities, it 
ceases to be a matter of wonder, that the planters 
found a source of more immediate profit in the growth 
of tobacco, for which they met with a ready market 
both in the mother country and in the north of Eu- 
rope.* 

In the early settlement of Georgia, in the year 
1732, a piece of ground, belonging to government, 
was allotted as a nursery plantation for white mul- 
berry trees. Lands also were granted to settlers on 
condition that they planted 100 white mulberry trees 
on every ten acres when cleared ; and ten years were 
allowed for their cultivation. Trees, seed, and the 
eggs of the silk worm, were sent over by the colonial 
trustees ; and an episcopal clergyman, and a native of 
Piedmont were engaged to instruct the people in the 
art of rearing the worms and rearing the silk.t By 



* Mr. Gee in his chapter on Trade between England and Carolina, 
remarks, "Carolina lies in as happy a climate as any in the world, from 
thirty -two to thirty-six degrees of northern latitude ; the soil is generally 
fertile. The rice it produces is the best in the world ; and no country 
affords better silk than has been brought from thence. The rich grounds 
that lie under the Apalachian hills, are inviting places for raising silk. 
If care were taken to cultivate and improve the raising of silk in our 
plantations, Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, would 
produce the best silk, and as fit for organzine as any in the world. The 
vast riches of China, by this manufacture are sufficient to demonstrate 
the great advantages thereof; and the extraordinary treasure the Duke 
of Savoy draws into his country by silk, which is made in that little 
principality of Piedmont, is also another instance. We may judge, if 
he draws above £200,000 a year from England, what his profits are 
which he draws from Holland, and other places where the manufacture 
is carried on to a great degree. No part of the world is better suited to 
the silk worm than are our colonies ; no silk cleaner, more glossy, of a 
better body, nor fitter to answer the use of the fine thrown silk we have 
from Italy, than the small quantity of silk that has been imported from 
thence. We are told by a gentleman of good intelligence, that the 
whole charge of making a pound of silk in China, does not stand in 
above five shillings ; and almost any person, man, woman, or child, may 
work at it ; and a woman with a child to direct the thread, may, with a 
proper machine, reel from the cocoons, one pound a day." 

■\ " In order to preserve the spirit of the silk culture, and to keep 
the views of government present before the people, the public seal had 
on one side of it, a representation of silk worms, with this appropriate 



HISTORY OF SILK. Ill 

the manuscript records of those colonial trustees, 
it appears that the first silk received from Georgia, 
was in the year 1735, when eight pounds of raw silk 
were exported from Savannah to England, where it 
was woven and presented to the queen. It appearing 
desirable to the government that the home consump- 
tion of raw silk should be supplied from the colonies 
rather than be dependent on foreign states, an act 
was passed in 1749 for encouraging the growth of 
colonial silk, under the provisions of which, all that 
was certified to be the production of Georgia and 
Carolina was exempted, on importation, from the 
payment of duty. A bounty was also offered for the 
production of silk, and an Italian gentleman, named 
Ortolengi, was engaged to proceed to Georgia, and 
instruct the colonists in the Italian mode of manage- 
ment. 

In a collection of essays published by Doctor Jared 
Elliot, of Killingworth,* Connecticut, we find many 
interesting particulars in relation to the early intoduc- 
tion of the silk culture in America. From his writings 
we learn that Georgia first embarked in the pursuit 
under the administration of Governor Oglethorpe. 
Dr. Elliot says, by a late account from Georgia, " it 
appears that the silk manufactory is in a flourishing 
way. In the year 1757, the weight of the silk balls" 

motto, ' no:* sibi, sed aliis,' not for ourselves, but for others." — 
M'Call's History of Georgia, vol. i. pp. 22. 29. 

* By a pamphlet published by the Society in London for the En- 
couragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce, we learn, that in 
1761, the following gentlemen, their correspondents, were by them au- 
thorized to pay premiums in their respective colonies, " for merchant- 
able raw silk, raised and produced therein," viz. Dr. Jared Elliot, the 
Rev. T. Clap, president of Yale College, Jared Ingersoll, Esq., of Con- 
necticut, Benjamin Franklin, LL.D., and. John Hughes, Esq., of Penn- 
sylvania; George Pollock, Cullen Pollock, and John Rutherford, Esqs., 
of North Carolina. The premiums were, " for every pound of cocoons 
produced in the province of Georgia, in 1761, of a hard, weighty, and 
good substance, wherein one worm only has spun in them, three pence ; 
for every pound of cocoons in which two worms had spun in one co- 
coon, two pence. So far as Georgia was concerned, the cocoons were 
to be brought to the filature at Savannah under the direction of M. 
Ortolengi. Thus it appears there was then a filature at Savannah. 



■/ 



112 HISTORY OF SILK. 

(cocoons) "received at the filature was only 1052 lbs. 
last year produced 7040 lbs. ; and this year already 
above 10,000 lbs. ; and it is very remarkable that the 
raw silk, exported from Georgia, sells at London from 
two to three shillings a pound more than that from 
any other part of the world." At the time when Mr. 
Elliot wrote, 1759, Georgia was increasing in the silk 
business. A severe loss was sustained by those who 
had embarked in this enterprise in Georgia, in the 
year 1758, by the filature and storehouse taking fire, 
and being consumed together with a quantity of raw 
silk, and eight thousand weight of cocoons. The 
quantity destroyed enables us to form some judgment 
relative to the extent of the silk business at that early 
day. Dr. Elliot says, that in the year when his essay 
was written, those who had given their attention to 
the production of silk, informed him, " that it was 
Trior e profitable than any other ordinary business"* 
It appears from other authorities, that the public 
filature was erected in 1751 by order of the colonial 
trustees. The exports of silk from 1750 to 1754, 
amounted to the value of $8880. In 1757, one thou- 
sand and fifty pounds of raw silk were received at the 
filature. In the year 1759, the colony exported up- 
wards of 10,000 weight of raw silk. According to an 
official statement of William Brown, controller of the 
customs of Savannah, 8829 pounds of raw silk were 
exported between the years 1755 and 1772 inclusive. 
The last parcel brought for sale to Savannah, was in 
the year 1790, when upwards of 200 weight were 
purchased for exportation at from eighteen shillings to 
twenty-six shillings per pound. " There is no doubt 
that the cultivation of the cotton plant proved so ad- 



* He says, "some years past, I asked a man of good faith and credit, 
who had then made the most silk of any among us, what profit might 
be made of it ] His reply was, that he could make a yard of silk as 
cheap as he could make a yard of linen cloth, of eight run to the pound. 
A woman of experience in this business told me, that in the short time 
of feeding the worms and winding the silk balls, she could earn enough 
to hire a good spinner the whole year." 



HISTORY OF SILK. 113 

vantageous to the planters in Georgia as to become, 
at the period when the bounty was suspended, a su- 
perior temptation. "* 

The silk culture, it is asserted, commenced in South 
Carolina about the same time, 1732, as in Georgia, 
and began at once to be, as it should, a fashionable 
occupation. The ladies^ of South Carolina hesi- 
tated not to devote their attention to what had, from 
time immemorial, constituted the care of a long line 
of empresses of the Celestial Empire. Though the 
quantity of silk produced, during the first epoch of 
its culture in Carolina was small,:}; yet we have the 
highly credible testimony of the celebrated Sir Thomas 
Lombe, that its quality was excellent and equal to 
any produced in Italy. § 

Authors differ relative to the time when the silk 
culture was first introduced into Pennsylvania. M. 
d'Homergue says, "In the year 1769, on the recom- 
mendation of Dr. Franklin, through the American 
Philosophical Society, a filature of raw silk was esta- 

* " A paper was laid before the Commissioners for Trade and Planta- 
tions, by about forty eminent silk throwsters and weavers, declaring 
that, having examined a parcel of about 300 lbs. of Georgia raw silk, 
imported in February last, they found the nature and texture of it truly 
good, the colour beautiful, the thread even, and clean as the best Pied- 
mont, and capable of being worked with less waste than China silk." — 
London Magazine for 1755. 

j- In the year 1755, Mrs. Pinckney, the same lady, who about ten 
years before, had introduced the indigo plant into South Carolina, took 
with her to England, a quantity of excellent silk, which she had raised 
and spun in the vicinity of Charleston, sufficient to make three dresses; 
one of them was presented to the Princess Dowager of Wales, and 
another to Lord Chesterfield. They were allowed to be equal to any 
silk ever imported. The third dress, now (1809) in Charleston, in the 
possession of her daughter, Mrs. Horry, is remarkable for its beauty, 
firmness, and strength." — Ramsay's History of South Carolina, vol. i. 
p. 221. 

i In the years 1742, 1748, 1749, 1750, 1753, 1755.— Dodsley's An- 
nual Register, 1761. 

§ An impartial inquiry into the state of Georgia. — London, 1741, 
p. 79. 

At new Bordeaux, a French settlement, 70 miles above Augusta, 
Georgia, the people supplied much of the high country with sewing silk 
during the revolutionary war. ^ 



114 HISTORY OF SILK. 

blished at Philadelphia, by private subscription." In 
1770, Mrs. Susanna Wright at Colombia, Lancaster 
county, made a piece of mantua, sixty yards in length, 
from her own cocoons, afterwards worn as a court 
dress by the queen of Great Britain. About this time, 
Grace Fisher made some considerable quantity of 
silk stuffs.* And we learn that many ladies before 
the revolution wore silk dresses of their own fabrica- 
tion.! 

The editor of the Genessee Farmer states, that " a 
filature was established in Philadelphia in 1770, and 
premiums announced; and that in the following year, 
2300 lbs. of silk were brought there to reel." The 
work on the Growth and Manufacture of Silk ? pub- 
lished by order of Congress, in 1828, says that, "in 
the year 1771, the cultivation of silk began in Penn- 
sylvania and New Jersey, and continued with spirit 
for several years. The subject had been frequently 
mentioned in the American Philosophical Society, as 
one of those useful designs which it was proper for 
them to promote ; but they were induced to enter 
into a final resolution on it in consequence of a letter 
being laid before them, on the 5th January, 1770, 
from Dr. Franklin, who was then in London as agent 
of the colony, and in answer to one which had been 
written to him on the same subject by the late Dr. 
Cadwallader Evans. In this letter from Dr. Frank- 
lin, he recommended the culture of silk to his coun- 
trymen, and advised the establishment of a public 
filature in Philadelphia. He also sent to the Society 
a copy of the work by the Abbe Sauvage, on the 
Rearing of Silk Worms. A committee having been 

* Of which, a piece was presented by Governor Dickenson to the 
celebrated Catharine Macauley. 

j- At a large meeting of silk growers held at the Hall of the Franklin 
Institute, on the 29th of January, 1839, a few days before writing this 
article, Dr. Mease of this city presented several specimens of silk woven 
and dyed about the time mentioned above, which were truly creditable, 
and which the venerable speaker facetiously remarked, though not as 
splendid as much of that manufactured in these days, would still, not- 
withstanding, " make a very fine show in a country church." 



HISTORY OF SILK. 115 

appointed by the Society to frame a plan for pro- 
moting the culture, and to prepare an address to the 
legislature, praying for public encouragement, they 
proposed to raise a fund by subscription, for the pur- 
chase of cocoons, to establish a filature, and to offer 
for public sale, all the silk purchased and wound off 
at the establishment ; the produce thereof to be duly 
accounted for, and to remain in the stock for carrying 
on the design. A subscription among the citizens 
was immediately set on foot, and the sum of £875, 14s. 
obtained the first year;" "£900 (or $2400,)" says 
M. d'Homergue.* The worms were fed on the na- 
tive mulberry until the white mulberry could be 
reared, and it is remarked that they thrived well and 
yielded good silk. By the several members of this 
association^ whilst it was in existence, not only good 
silk was procured, but, as we are told, even many 
garments were obtained. But soon after, war, which 
often is another word for destruction to what God 
hath made, or confusion where order should exist, 
put an end to this good beginning, and even buried 
the whole, however high the promise, in oblivion. 

During the whole of the most discouraging circum- 
stances, not only in the revolutionary war, but through 
that apathy created in the public mind by any dis- 
turbance in commercial connexions, this noble enter- 
prise seemed rather to slumber than to die, and all 
the energies of its spirit are yet alive waiting for its 
resurrection. One of the early discouragements in 
the production of silk, was the want of a market either 



* M. d'Homergue, is a competent witness, since he was in the whole 
of this part of the history, relative to Pennsylvania, highly interested. 
He also adds, " I have been told that a Frenchman skilled in the art of 
reeling was employed in the establishment. Who he was, or what be- 
came of him afterwards, I have not been able to learn. I have not heard 
of any raw silk having been prepared at this filature, or sold out of it : 
yet I have been told that a lady of this city," (Philadelphia,) " had a 
negligee dress manufactured in England out of silk of her own raising. 
The lady's name was Roberdeau." Query. Was this the lady or a 
relative of the well known General Roberdeau, of the revolutionary war, 
remarkable for his unaccountable feline antipathy 1 



116 HISTORY OP SILK. 

for the sale of cocoons, or for reeled silk ; and another 
has been the too prevalent idea of supposed difficulty 
in the filature. These obstructions are now extinct. 
Ready markets, not only in the eastern cities, but 
almost anywhere are established and on the increase 
through the Union. And the simplicity of the reel 
and spinner invented by Mr. Gay, has reduced the 
art of reeling and making sewing thread to the level 
of any capacity. 

At Economy, Pennsylvania, the culture in all its 
branches, from the feeding of the worm to the manu- 
facture of the silk, is extensively carried on by Messrs. 
Rapp and his industrious coadjutors. And the pro- 
duce of that laudable establishment, we are informed, 
has received the approbation of connoisseurs. 

We have now arrived at a crisis, which is perhaps 
as important as any period in the history of the cul- 
ture of silk in North America, and, therefore, cannot 
here, withhold from our readers, all the information 
we can derive relative to this eventful era ; which is 
succinctly drawn up to our purpose in a pamphlet, or 
Report on the Mulberry and Sugar Beet, published 
during the second session of the twenty-fifth Con- 
gress ;* in which, at page five, we read as follows : 

" There were, perhaps, some other reasons which 
induced the people of this country to neglect this sub- 
ject (the culture of silk) for so long a period. The 
white Italian mulberry, till within a few years, was 
the only variety cultivated, and this was unfit for use 
for several years. So that the cultivator was com- 
pelled to lose the use of his capital and labour for 
some years, before he had any prospect of remune- 
ration. Add to this, the extreme difficulty, which, 
till very recently, attended the process of reeling, and 
the want of a market for cocoons or raw silk, and we 
have causes sufficient to satisfy any reasonable mind, 
that the culture of silk was never abandoned in this 
country on account of the soil or climate" 

* Rep. No. 815. 



HISTORY OF SILK. 117 

Now, " the cultivation of the white mulberry has 
been substituted by the morus multicaulis, which 
may be stripped of its foliage the same year that it is 
planted ; and the dull, tedious process of reeling by 
hand, which required a regular apprenticeship to 
learn, and years to acquire any facility, has given 
way to new improvements in the reel, by which a 
person (even a child) may learn in a few hours to 
reel with ease and expedition. Many silk weavers, 
also, and public establishments have opened a good 
and permanent market for all the cocoons and raw 
silk that can be raised, for want of which they are 
yearly under the necessity of importing large quan- 
tities to keep their factories in operation." 

It is asserted that Mr. N. Aspinwall, who had a 
plantation of mulberry trees on Long Island, was the 
means of introducing the white mulberry tree, and 
the eggs of the silk worm, in the year 1760, into the 
town of Mansfield in Connecticut. He also planted 
an extensive nursery of the trees in New Haven ; 
and together with Dr. Ezra Styles obtained from the 
state legislature a bounty of ten shillings for every 
hundred trees that should, in three years from the 
time of planting, be in a healthy condition, and also 
of three pence per ounce for all raw silk which the 
owners of the trees had produced from cocoons of 
their own raising within the state. After the public 
encouragement for raising trees was found unneces- 
sary, a small bounty on raw silk, manufactured within 
the state, was continued some time longer. A statute 
yet continues in force, requiring sewing silk to consist 
of twenty threads, each two yards long.* 

Dr. Lardner bestows the highest eulogium on the 
Society for the Encouragement of Arts, and particu- 
larly for their patriotic endeavours to promote every 
thing, at home or abroad, connected with the produc- 
tion or manufacture of silk. In this sentiment, the 



* Report published by order of Congress in 1828. — Roberts' Manual 
and Silk Grower. 



118 HISTORY OP SILK. 

work published by order of Congress in 1828, con- 
curs, in the following language. "It would be an 
act of injustice to omit noticing the generous encou- 
ragement to the cultivation of silk in the American 
colonies, which was given by the patriotic Society in i 
London, for ' the Promotion of Arts/ " &c. From 
the year 1755 to 1772, several hundred pounds ster- 
ling were paid to various persons in Georgia, South 
Carolina, and Connecticut, in consequence of pre- 
miums offered by the society, for planting mulberry 
trees, for cocoons, and for raw silk.* 

It may be remembered that Count de Hazzi divided 
the whole of the history of silk culture in Germany, 
into three periods ; the two former of which he calls 
the "unlucky." And it is too evident almost to 
escape observation, that the same culture in North 
America is as clearly divisible into three periods; but 
we have no warrant to pronounce the two former 
unlucky. On the contrary they were successful, but 
not to that degree they would have been had impe- 
diments already specified not existed. The first 
period may be said to have continued from the first 
introduction of the silk culture in North America, 
in 1623 to the close of the Revolutionary war in 
S 1783, or for 160 years. The second epoch, fyc.from 
that event to the time when there ivas in this coun- 
try public evidence of decisive knowledge of the cha- 
racter of the multicaulis mulberry ; or to July 1830. 
The second epoch then in the history of the Ame- 
rican silk culture, com?nenced in 1783. Notwith- 
standing the desolation generally introduced by war, 
which when internal has too frequently a continued 
and universal effect, the silk enterprise was, though 
somewhat gradually, renewed. It was precisely at 
this period, 1783, that the legislature of Connecticut, 
induced by the exertions of Dr. Aspinwall and the 
Rev. Dr. Styles, granted a bounty on mulberry trees 



* Bayley's Advancement of the Arts, London, 1772. Dossie's Me- 
moirs of Agriculture, vol. iii. 



HISTORY OP SILK. 119 

and raw silk. In 1789, 200 lbs. of raw silk were 
made, in Mansfield, which, in 1793, produced 365 lbs. 
of raw silk. In 1810, the sewing and raw silk of 
New London, Windham, and Tolland, were valued 
by the United States marshal at $28,503, exclusive 
of the amount of domestic fabrics ; and double this 
entire amount is said to have been manufactured 
there in 1825. So popular, indeed, had silk products 
become about this period, that they were readily taken 
and paid there, as a circulating medium. 

We are informed, that Samuel Chidsey of Cayuga 
county, New York, during the late war with Eng- 
land, sold sewing silk to the amount of $600 a year. 
The cultivation of silk commenced, in the same era, 
in the states of Ohio and Kentucky; and also by cer- 
tain French settlers in the country, now the state, of 
Illinois. 

An important era to North America, was now 
about to dawn, and a spirit of universal inquiry 
seemed to be excited. The several impediments to 
the successful culture of silk, whatever they were, 
that had aforetime somewhat fettered this noble en- 
terprise, were giving way in succession, and daylight 
appeared to break out on the American people before 
they were actually aware of it; and were we allowed 
to indulge in the figure, we should say, that this twi- 
light, or crepuscular period commenced in the year 
1825. We now see that not only individuals, farmers, 
and planters, but also legislators, have risen from a 
comparative lethargy. Not only private, but national 
interest, is on the tapis. Neither can any sceptic, any 
cool calculator ox frigid political economist, negative 
the question, may not the United States become 
equal in wealth and independence, and infinitely su- 
perior in intelligence, to the China of 4000 years? 
The climate, the soil, the cocoons, the filature art, the 
throwsting, the tout ensemble] are now reached out 
to Colombia, and strange would it be, if she find not 
the hand to grasp the boon that soon shall envy not 
the mines of Mexico, but prove that silk is the first, 



120 HISTORY OP SILK. 

and cotton only the second staple of North America. 
An interest, therefore, that not only points to every 
individual pocket, hut vast enough to look a whole 
nation in the face at once, is now before us. 

We have said that the day dawned, and even le- 
gislators were risen, and on their feet in 1825. Mr. 
Miner, of Pennsylvania, inquires in the house of re- 
presentatives on the 29th of December, "if the culti- 
vation of the mulberry, and the breeding of silk 
worms, were a subject worthy of legislative attention." 
In 1826, Mr. Van Rensselaer made a report, which 
led to the resolution that the secretary of the trea- 
sury should cause to be prepared a Manual on the 
Growth and Manufacture of Silk. In 1828 when 
Mr. Rush presented his Manual, Dr. Mease trans- 
mitted to the speaker the Treatise of Count de Hazzi. 
These were followed by a report presented to the 
house by Mr. Spencer, in 1830, embracing two inte- 
resting letters from Peter S. Duponceau, Esq., of Phi- 
ladelphia, and Essays on American Silk, by M d'Ho- 
mergue. These documents comprise the most valuable 
instructions on the subject of the silk culture. The 
report proposed to grant to M. d'Homergue the sum 
of $40,000 for the establishment of a normal school 
of filature in Philadelphia for the gratuitous instruc- 
tion of sixty young men for two years in the various 
branches of reeling, manufacturing, and dyeing silk. 
This bill, though favourably received, was not, 
through various causes, acted on at that session. In 
1832 the bill was brought under legislative conside- 
ration, and for reasons best explained in Mr. Dupon- 
ceau 9 s History of the Silk Bill, defeated by a small 
majority. " Thus perished," says Mr. Randolph, 
"the first important measure, proposed by the na- 
tion, to promote the production of silk in this coun- 
try; a measure which the committee (on agriculture*) 
believe, with the lights then in existence, was wise, 
prudent, and important; but which the subsequent 

* Twenty-fifth Congress, second session. 



HISTORY OF SILK. 121 

ingenuity and experience of our countrymen now 
render unnecessary ; believing, as they do, that the 
recent improvements in reeling will do more in a few 
weeks, than the establishment of many normal schools 
on the old plan would do in many years." 

The third epoch in the history of silk in the 
United States may be dated not from the time when 
the first multicaulis tree existed in this Union, which 
was in 1826,* but from the moment when there was, in 
this country, public evidence of any decisive knowledge 
of its character: and this was the case in July, 1830. 
According to the accounts before us, the well known 
and justly celebrated Mr. Gideon B. Smith of Balti- 
more possessed the firstt tree of this kind in North 
America ; but does not appear, from the treatise he 
published in 1830, to have then had sufficient ac- 
quaintance with its peculiarities, to warrant him in 
recommending it as a valid substitute for its popular 
predecessor, the Italian mulberry. But Dr. Felix 
Pascalis, of New York, having, in the preceding 
March, imported two multicaulis plants, comes for- 
ward, in July, 1830, with a decision at once so clear, 
that it has since gone by the name of Dr. Pascalis' 
prediction. In an article in the Journal of Sciences 
for July, 1830, after informing us that he had received 
two trees of this mulberry from France, adds, "Sfter 
the discovery of this plant, a doubt no longer exists, 
that two crops of silk may be raised in a single 
season." A prediction almost immediately after veri- 
fied, in the summer of 1832, in Madame Parmentier's 
Horticultural establishment on Long Island. 

After this period, we have ample testimony that the 
general impetus existing in the public mind, was on the 
onward march, and though at first with a pace compa- 

* The difference of one or even of two years will, perhaps, be con- 
tested, by some in the state of New York, or elsewhere ; but this point 
is not important, since it is not from the possession, but from the public 
evidence of any decisive knowledge of its character, that we date the 
epoch in question. 

t See Silk Grower, vol. i. p. 147. 
11 



122 HISTORY OP SILK. 

ratively slow and cautious, yet steadily advancing with 
an increasing rapidity such that it was evident that 
it would soon have to dispute with every other staple 
within the limits of the Union. Excitement, whatever 
it be, is always prolific: a month effects more than a 
year: it is an age, and that the age of invention. Dif- 
ficulties, though mountains before, vanish, and the toil 
of a man becomes the sport of a child. New reels and 
improved systems of reeling appear by the dozen, the 
facilities of filatures are already in the rear, and mar- 
kets for cocoons and silk in any shape, are on the 
right and left — the winter is past — the difficulties are 
gone; and all we have to do, is to go up at once, 
since we are able, and possess the goodly land. 
" Possunt, quia posse videntur" When Providence 
does any thing for man, his business is to co-operate. 
It has done much for us; has given soils and climates 
positively omniferous; China herself boasts of nothing 
superior: we cannot do wrong in stepping on the 
traces of 4000 years. 

In pursuing the subsequent history of this import- 
ant, but yet comparatively prospective branch of 
agriculture, we cannot do better than refer to the 
letter of Mr. Andrew Judson of Connecticut, late a 
member of Congress, to the Hon. J. Q. Adams, and 
furnished by the latter, as chairman of the committee 
on manufactures, to the congressional house of repre- 
sentatives, on February 25, 1837. We find that it 
covers a large surface, however paradoxical, in a lit- 
tle compass. 

In an early part of this letter Mr. Judson confers a 
very flattering compliment on the Hartford County 
Silk Society, to whose patriotic efforts in dissemi- 
nating a knowledge of the silk culture, by the publi- 
cation of the well known periodical, the Silk Cultur- 
ist, under the editorial charge of their secretary, 
Judge Comstock, and by other means, he attributes 
"the present state (January, 1837) of these branches 
of American industry, and the interest which is so 
extensively felt in relation to them." We are our- 



HISTORY OF SILK. 123 

selves, in short, so sensible of the benefit derived from 
this source, a sentiment we are assured that we main- 
tain in common with many, that it is but a. just* re- 
turn to inscribe this, since we cannot on the marble 
bust, as a record on the page of history. 

So far as experiments are the cost of time, and 
issue in results profitable and available to the com- 
munity, their verdict is the matter of history; we, 
therefore, hesitate not to make here such extracts from 
this interesting letter as have a direct reference to the 
public interest. "Experiments have been made in 
all parts of the country, and their success has esta- 
blished the fact, that, the mulberry will grow, and 
the silk worm thrive, throughout the whole length 
and breadth of the United States. It was formerly 
doubted whether the moms multicaulis could be ac- 
climated in the northern and middle states ; but late 
experiments have satisfactorily proved that, by cut- 
ting down the shoots in autumn, the roots will endure 
the coldest winters, send up a new growth of shoots 
in the spring, and produce an abundant crop of foli- 
age. This appears to be the method successively 
pursued by the silk growers in India ; and with the 
same treatment in this country, there is no doubt of 
its acclimation. The facility with which it is culti- 
vated and multiplied to an indefinite extent, affords 
a full guaranty against those failures and inter- 
ruptions in the business to which it has heretofore 
been subjected. It has been ascertained by experi- 
ment, that the foliage which may be gathered from 
annual shoots on an acre of land will furnish food 
enough to sustain a family of worms sufficiently 
numerous to make 128 pounds of silk, worth, at 
present prices, $640." 

The importance of the remarks in the following 
extracts will be readily perceived. " The process of 
reeling, also, which was formerly supposed to be of 

* The merely nominal price at which the Silk Culturist was pub- 
lished, together with the gratuitous distribution of mulberry seed and 
silk worm eggs, argued loss rather than profit to the company. 



124 HISTORY OF SILK. 

difficult performance, has been so familiarized, that 
children perform it with skill and dexterity. The 
gathering of the foliage, and the feeding of the worms 
may be effected by the children, and such other 
members of the family as are incapable of more ardu- 
ous labour; one aged person being always in the 
direction of the business as a responsible head ; and 
who, if not thus employed, would spend their time in 
idleness ; or, what is worse, in mischief. If product- 
ive labour is a source of wealth, both to nations 
and individuals, it is desirable that it should be 
increased to its greatest possible extent. This can 
only be done by seeking out objects to which the la- 
bour of the young, old, and infirm is adapted ; and 
among these, there is none more appropriate than 
the culture of silk. The same remarks are sub- 
stantially true with respect to its manufacture. It 
has also been erroneously supposed, that the manu- 
facture of silk was attended with extraordinary diffi- 
culties ; that it required much complex and expensive 
machinery, and a skill which Americans were incapa- 
ble of acquiring; but it has been found to be as simple 
as that of cotton or wool, and requiring a far less ex- 
penditure in buildings, machinery, and fixtures. The 
weaving of silk fabrics on power looms has been at- 
tempted, and the success that has resulted from the 
experiment, is of the most flattering character. Fa- 
brics for gentlemen's wear, cravats, &c. have been 
woven on power looms, which, for beauty of texture, 
fall but little, if any, below those of foreign manufac- 
ture. In this respect we are already in advance of 
the silk manufacturers of Europe and India ; and it is 
believed that the advantage the American manufac- 
turer will derive from the aid of labour-saving ma- 
chines, will more than counterbalance that which the 
foreign manufacturer can derive from the reduced 
price of labour in countries of a more dense popula- 
tion. Hence we are confident that this country can ' 
successfully compete with others both in the culture 
and manufacture of silk." 



HISTORY OF SILK. 125 

"The importance of introducing this species of 
manufacture may be estimated by the fact, that the 
importations of manufactured silks, during the year 
ending the 29th of September last, amounted to 
$17,497,600, being nearly a million more than the 
previous year. Most of this vast amount is consumed 
in this country, which is an enormous tax on the 
consumers. It is also to them and the country a total 
loss ; for it is believed that we have a sufficient num- 
ber of labourers to produce and manufacture the 
whole amount, who are unproductively or unprofit- 
ably employed. If this be so, it follows as a necessary 
consequence, that we sustain an annual loss of 
double that amount in our unemployed and misap- 
plied labour. This amount will also be astonishingly 
increased, if we add to it all the evils of crime and 
pauperism, which are the legitimate and unavoidable 
consequences of idleness and unproductive labour. 
The importance, therefore, of the culture and ma- 
nufacture of silk, both in a pecuniary and moral 
point of view, is immense. 

" The importance of this branch of rural economy 
is also much increased, by the facilities it affords to 
all to attain competence and wealth. There is pro- 
bably no other business in which the same amount 
of capital will yield an equal amount of income. 
There can be no better investment. The small 
amount too, necessary to a commencement of the 
business, is also an encouragement which no other 
holds out to the enterprising. A few acres of land 
of ordinary fertility, and a few dollars in money 
for the purchase of seeds and plants, will enable a 
silk groiver to lay the foundation for a plantation 
on a considerable scale. Another facility peculiar to 
the business is the ease with which operations are 
extended, without a corresponding extension of capi- 
tal. The ratio in which the morus multicaulis may 
be multiplied, by means of cuttings and layers, is 
astonishing. Experiments have proved that, with a 
little labour and attention, they may be more than 
11* 



126 HISTORY OF SILK. 

quadrupled every year. This will enable the far- 
mer in moderate circumstances to compete with the 
capitalist, and prevent monopolists from engrossing 
the whole of the business and its profits. To the in- 
dividual of limited means, having a large family of 
children, the culture of silk holds out encouragement 
of extraordinary promise ; while, at the same time, 
it affords ample opportunity for the capitalist or the 
incorporated company to make large investments 
with the moral certainty of success. 

" The culture and manufacture of silk must also, 
for a long time, be free from the depression and em- 
barrassments which, at times, are thrown on other 
species of manufacture by enterprise and competition. 
Before the present prices can be materially reduced, 
an amount of domestic silk equal to the large 
amount annually imported must be produced; and 
this cannot be expected, whilst enterprise and labour 
have so many objects on which to expend themselves, 
as the various sections, climates, interests, and pur- 
suits of this extensive country present. The disposi- 
tion also which has existed for the last twenty or 
thirty years, between the increase in the consumption 
of silk and the increase of population, will it is be- 
lieved, prevent the American silk growers, with all 
the aid and encouragement which may be extended 
to them by the national and state legislatures, from 
producing the raw material in sufficient quanti- 
ties to satisfy the demand, for at least another cen- 
tury." 

The above convictions so ably expressed by Mr. 
Judson, and so directly relevant to our interests, and 
admirably calculated to remove every doubt in the 
mind of the most uninformed or sceptical, are the re- 
sults of experimental history. History, in short, is 
nothing without its moral development ; and viewed 
in this light, the preceding extracts cannot be consi- 
dered as a digression from the subject of this section. 
The detail of facts, however, Mr. Judson prefaces, by 
informing us, that in the month of the preceding Sep- 



HISTORY OF SILK. 1,27 

temher, he had caused a circular to be prepared, pro- 
pounding twenty-six interrogatories to silk growers, 
manufacturers, and other gentlemen interested in the 
subject ; and that several hundreds were circulated. 
Ci The facts, however, collected, are of the most flat- 
tering character. From the answers to the interro- 
gatories, the communications of gentlemen in different 
parts of the country, and such other means of infor- 
mation as I have been favoured with, I am enabled 
to give the following exhibition of the progress and 
prospect of both branches of the business. The 
statements being made from correct data, may be 
relied on, as approximating to accuracy, so far as 
they go ; but it is reasonable to suppose that the view 
is imperfect, as the business has probably been com- 
menced in many parts of the country, from which no 
information has been received." 

Indeed so wide is this country that in it millions 
may exist, or live and die, unknown to others ; and 
much more their avocations, designs, or prospects. 
The precise outline, therefore, of the American history, 
as it relates to silk or any other object, cannot be fully 
caught, at any given moment. The historian often 
has to wait till time's pendulum measures his event- 
ful revolutions by deeds, and until their report has 
had weeks, months, and even years, to travel to his 
eye or ear, and announce such prospects as their re- 
lative circumstances may warrant in his estimation. 
Under this view of the case we may be allowed to 
close our history of the silk culture and manufacture 
in America, with such extracts from Mr. Judson's 
authentic testimony as refer to the different sections 
of this Union. 

"THE SIX NEW ENGLAND STATES 

" Are more or less engaged in the culture and manu- 
facture of silk ; and four of them are encouraging the 
business by legislative bounties. In Maine, a bounty 
of five cents on every pound of cocoons grown, 



128 HISTORY OP SILK. 

and fifty cents on every pound of silk reeled, is paid 
from the state treasury. The experiments which 
have been made confirm the belief that the climate is 
no obstacle in the way of the silk grower. In New- 
port, Fryeburg, Saco, Hiram, and Limington, 
nurseries have been planted, and are said to be in a 
flourishing condition. Within a few miles of the 
forty-fifth degree of latitude, the young plants with- 
stood the severity of last winter. A gentleman in 
Fryeburg fed last season 5000 worms, which pro- 
duced the usual quantity of silk. In New Hampshire 
the business has been begun, and is prosecuted with 
considerable spirit, though no public encouragement 
is given. At Concord there is an incorporated com- 
pany, with a capital of $75,000, for the growth and 
manufacture of silk. The company has purchased 
a farm of 250 acres, and is stocking it with both kinds 
of the mulberry as fast as circumstances will permit. 
Individuals also, in most parts of the state, are plant- 
ing the mulberry preparatory to feeding the worm. 
Experiments have also been made in South Weare, 
Newport, Dunbar ton, Warner, Hopkinton, Keene, 
and many other towns, and the results have evinced, 
that the business is both practicable and profitable. 

" The legislature of Vermont, have authorized the 
state treasurer to, pay a bounty of ten cents on every 
pound of cocoons grown within the state. In Burling- 
ton, Brattlebord > , Woodstock, Middlebury, Ben- 
nington, South Hero, Montpelier, Orwell, Shore- 
ham, Guilford, Putney, and other places preparations 
are making on a large scale. The legislation of 
Massachusetts, for the encouragement of the growth 
of silk, is of the most liberal character. The bounty 
on all silk grown, reeled, and throwsted, in the com- 
monwealth is two dollars a pound ; which is consi- 
dered by silk growers to be sufficient to defray all 
expenses attending its growing, reeling, and throws- 
ting. There are several incorporated companies. 
Amongst them is the New England Silk Company 
at Dedham, under the superintendence of Mr. Cobb. 



HISTORY OF SILK. 129 

This company has a capital of $50,000 with liberty 
to extend it to $100,000. Mr. Cobb says, "we have 
sixteen sewing silk machines. We have found organ- 
zine and tram, or warp and filling, to be in greater 
demand than heretofore ; but in consequence of the 
forty per cent, protection on sewing silk held out by 
government, we have been building a large mill, and 
are now ready to manufacture 200 lbs. per week of 
sewing silk, which, at present prices, will bring $2000. 
About $10,000 worth of silk goods, part with a mix- 
ture of cotton, have been manufactured here the year 
past.' 5 In addition to this, Mr. Judson notices the 
Atlantic Silk Company, at Nantucket; the Northamp- 
ton, the Massachusetts, the Boston, the Roxbury, 
and the Newburyport Silk Companies ; all with ade- 
quate capitals, and "promising prospects." 

"In Rhode Island the manufacture of silk is 
commencing. The Rhode Island Silk Company has 
a capital of $100,000. The factory is at Providence, 
and the plantation in the neighbourhood. It has ma- 
nufactured some very beautiful and durable articles. 

" In Connecticut silk has been grown in consi- 
derable quantities for fifty or sixty years, particularly 
in the counties of Windham and Tolland. The 
state pays a bounty of one dollar on every hundred 
Italian or Chinese mulberry trees, set out at such dis- 
tances from each other as will best favour their full 
growth and the collection of their leaves, and culti- 
vated until they are five years old ; also a bounty of 
fifty cents on every pound of silk reeled on an im- 
proved reel. There are two incorporated companies, 
the Mansfield and the Connecticut. The former is 
located at Mansfield, and has a capital of $20,000 ; 
the latter at Hartford, with a capital of $30,000. 
There is also a silk factory at Lisbon. Individuals 
also, in all parts of the state, are engaging in the cul- 
ture. There are likewise extensive nurseries at 
Hartford, Suffield, Farmington, Litchfield, New 
London, Stoninglon, Durham, Neiv Haven, and 
many other towns." 



130 HISTORY OF SILK. 



MIDDLE STATES. 



"The subject of encouraging the culture of silk 
has been under consideration in New York, and it 
is expected will be given at the present session. 
Several silk companies have been incorporated, 
among which are the Troy, the Poughkeepsie, the 
Neio York, and the Albany Silk Grower's Compa- 
nies. In all parts of the state, individuals are en- 
gaging with spirit; and there is no doubt New York 
will become a great silk growing district. 

"In New Jersey several companies have been 
incorporated, among which are the New Jersey and 
the Monmouth Silk Companies. Several others are 
formed, and enterprising individuals are engaging 
in the culture. The soil and climate have been found 
well adapted to the business." This state pays a 
bounty of sixteen cents a pound for cocoons, and fifty 
cents a pound for reeled silk. 

" A number of companies have been formed in 
Pennsylvania, under a general law of the state for 
the encouragement of the culture of silk." The 
Beaver, Chester, Philadelphia, and Economy Silk 
Companies, are those which Mr. Judson notices in 
1837. A number of companies have sprung up 
during the past season and others are almost daily 
coming into existence. 

" In Delaware and Maryland, the subject is at- 
tracting much attention. Several companies have 
been formed, and individuals are commencing plan- 
tations." The Queen Anne County and Talbot Silk 
Companies are mentioned. 

SOUTHERN STATES. 

" In the Southern States much interest is felt in the 
subject, and much is doing to introduce it to the at- 
tention of planters. In Virginia, they are proposing 
to devote their worn-out tobacco lands to the culture 
of silk, in the hope of checking the tide of emigration, 



HISTORY OF SILK. 131 

which is setting west, and threatening to depopulate 
the country. There are several silk companies, and 
many individuals are making experiments. The ac- 
counts I have received from North Carolina are 
of the most cheering character. They represent the 
soil and climate to be remarkably favourable to the 
growth of the tree and to the rearing of the worm. 
The same is substantially true as respects South 
Carolina and Georgia. Experiments have been 
made, whose results have satisfied the planters that 
the young, aged, and infirm portion of their slaves 
can be profitably employed in the culture of silk : and 
there is little doubt that in a short time many of them 
will make a silk as well as a cotton crop. In Florida 
and Alabama the tree grows luxuriantly, and pro- 
duces an abundance of foliage. Experiments in rear- 
ing the worm have also been attended with favour- 
able results; and a portion of the inhabitants are 
convinced that silk will be the most profitable crop 
they can make. At Pensacola and Mobile are large 
numbers of mulberry trees; and arrangements are 
making to commence the business. The black mul- 
berry is there indigenous, and its foliage has been 
found to make as good silk as that of the Chinese. 
It is also supposed that the sterile lands of West Flo- 
rida will become valuable on account of their adapta- 
tion to the production of silk." 

WESTERN STATES. 

The soil and climate of the Western States, has 
also been found to be peculiarly adapted to the silk 
culture. In Ohio there are a number of companies 
incorporated with large capitals, and under the direc- 
tion of skilful managers. In the vicinity of Canton, 
in Stark county, seventy families are engaged in 
making silk; and in Knox, Cuyahoga, Jefferson, 
Belmont, Washington, Broivn, Hamilton, Mont- 
gomery, Highland, and several other counties, many 
individuals are beginning. The subject is new in 



132 HISTORY OF SILK. 

Kentucky, but as is evident from the following ex- 
tract of a letter, is attracting attention. " The first 
talk of silk raising in this country was about a year 
and a half since, when a friend sent me the first copy 
of the Silk Culturist. So great has been the increase 
of public sentiment, that there appear but few of the 
rich farmers who are not contemplating it as a source 
of employment for their weak force. The six that 
are now making experiments, can bring into the field 
one hundred hands, and our whole energy will be 
turned to it. In Indiana large quantities of white 
mulberry seed have been sown, and a spirit of in- 
quiry has been awakened. The business cannot 
flourish with us till our trees have grown, though 
our woods abound with the black mulberry. In Il- 
linois, Missouri, and Tennessee, small beginnings 
have been made, and the congeniality of the soil and 
climate cannot, ultimately, fail of making them great 
silk growing states. Could a general diffusion of 
practical knowledge on the subject of cultivating the 
tree, and rearing the worm, be effected, I have no 
doubt the United States would become one of the 
greatest silk growing countries in the world." 

Beyond the period to which these brief extracts 
from Mr. Judson's highly credible testimony relative 
to the general state of the silk culture in this country 
refer, it is, at present, unnecessary to pass ; particu- 
larly as the progress since, has been so rapid, that to 
delineate, with any precision, the whole at any exact 
moment, over so wide a field as that of the United 
States, would be impossible, unless furnished with 
facilities similar to those which Mr. Judson's official 
commission for inquiry commanded. 



PART II. 

ON THE MULBERRY TREE. 



CHAPTER I. 

MULBERRY, GENUS, SPECIES. 

The first thing to be done towards either the pro- 
duction or manufacture of silk, is a provision of food 
for the thrifty insect, that will take due care to perform 
its part, if only we are equally industrious to perform 
ours ; and its only proper and legitimate aliment is 
the leaf of the mulberry tree. 

The Morus* of botanists, a genus! of the tetran- 
dria order, belonging to the Monoecia class of plants; 

* Morus, Lat. a mulberry tree ; said by some to be derived from the 
Celtic word Mor, black. But /uco^ov, the mulberry, is probably from the 
adjective fjuogos, insipid, since the fruit of every species, except the red, 
is comparatively insipid. 

•f Order, tetrandria. Oalyx four-parted, divisions oval and concave; 
corolla none ; stamens four, situated between the divisions of the calyx ; 
filaments erect, subulate, longer than the calyx, and supporting the an- 
thers. Female flowers, growing sometimes on the same individual, and 
sometimes on a separate plant, have a calyx with four leaves, rounded, 
obtuse, and persistent ; the two opposite exterior ones approaching each 
other : corolla none ; pistil naked ; germ, heart shaped, surmounted with 
two oblong, subulate, rough, strong styles, terminated by simple stig- 
mas ; no pericarp ; its place supplied by the calyx, which is converted 
into a fleshy succulent berry, containing one, sometimes two, pointed 
oval seeds, of which one is usually abortive ; perisperm whitish, fleshy, 
of the same form as the seeds, receiving the embryo reversed, bent into 
hooks. Cotyledons oblong, foliacious, smooth, narrow, bent over one 
another. The upper radicle is cylindrical. Distinctive character, mo- 
noecial flowers. Calyx four-parted, corolla none, stamens four, styles two, 
pericarp none, calyx changed into a flesh berry. The female flowers are 
numerous, collected rather loosely in a common receptacle. Each germ 
is changed into a succulent berry. These three particularly refer to the 
mulberry, white, red, or black. They extend their roofs deep, large, and 

12 133 



134 THE MULBERRY TREE. 

of which Linnaeus mentions seven distinct species, 
viz. 1. Morns nigra; 2. Morus rubra ; 3. Morus pa- 
pyrifera ; 4. Morus tinctoria ; 5. Morus indica : 
6. Morus tartarica, and 7. Morus alba ; of which 
we shall treat in due order, 

The above, it is to be observed, are ranked by 
Linnaeus as species ; and if species, they are each 
respectively capable of reproduction from its own 
seed. 

There are besides varieties of each species ; or 
kinds produced by two or more species, whose pro- 
perties have been combined by proximate influence 
or artificial culture, as ingrafting, inoculating; and 
even, in certain cases, other varieties obtained by a 
change of soil or climate ; most, if not all of which, 
however, are Hybrids ; and consequently, incapable 
of reproduction from seed. 

But what are varieties only, and what hybrids, 
have not as yet been distinctly stated, either by the 
botanist or the horticulturist; and, therefore, until 
experiments of a satisfactory character are made, we 
shall refer both the latter to a distinct chapter. 

The mulberry tree has many properties such, as if 
it had been endowed by nature with every requisite 
to render its cultivation, wherever that be, in the 
hedge, in the plantation, in the cornfield, or as an 
ornament around our premises and dwellings, an ob- 
ject happily combining utility, convenience, and plea- 
sure. Independently of the primary purpose of its 
culture, the production of an agreeable and elegant 
article of clothing, in consequence of its roots, not 
obliquely but more deeply and perpendicularly striking 
into the earth, it leaves the surface less impoverished 
and incommoded than it is by many trees. The 
ground, therefore, between mulberries, or their rows, 
may, in many cases, be successfully occupied with 

branching. They are exceedingly vivacious, and put forth rapidly. 
When grafted they die after twenty-five years ,- while the mulberries 
not grafted will live, sometimes, through three centuries. There are 
mulberry trees in England and France, known to be of this age. 



THE MULBERRY TREE. 135 

other products ; particularly since neither the shade 
of the tree, nor the dropping of rain from its leaves, 
is considered prejudicial to plants growing beneath. 
It is also a matter of universal observation that no 
insect, except the silk worm will feed on the mulberry- 
leaf. The experiment was purposely tried by M. 
Pullein, which satisfactorily demonstrated that the 
product of this tree is the exclusive property of the 
silk worm, or the insect, which apparently ivorks 
only for man. "During the continued observation 
of three years, Miss Rhodes never once found any 
other insect on the leaves used by her. Other fruit 
trees and vegetables in the same garden were some- 
times covered by myriads, while the mulberry tree, 
surrounded by these ravagers, remained sacred from 
their depredations." Not even the aphides invade 
the tree so exclusively devoted to the little operative 
that so exclusively devotes itself to us. 

"All the different parts of the mulberry," says 
Seignor Tinelli, "are useful and good for some pur- 
pose or other. Its leaves form the only food that 
experience has found to be appropriate to nourish the 
silk worm. The leaves of a second growth, serve, 
at the close of autumn, as an excellent nourishment 
for cattle and sheep.* The body and larger limbs, 
may also be converted into boards of a beautiful yel- 
lowish colour,t and finely clouded, for the use of the 
cabinetmaker; the fibrous epidermis of the young 
branches, that are often cut, either for the purpose of 
ingrafting or of pruning, and directing the shape of 
the tree, if macerated in lime and water, may be made 
into paper, that is exceedingly delicate and shining, 
and properly called silk paper. The young mul- 
berries take the most beautiful forms that it is possi- 
ble for the hand of man to give them ; and thus this 

* " It being understood, however, that the second gathering ought 
not to be made till the vegetation of the plant has entirely ceased, and 
the sap has begun to descend from the branches." 

t " Citron colour, more or less deep." — Morm. 



136 THE MULBERRY TREE. 

plant so rich in its produce, furnishes also an elegant 
ornament in parks and gardens, and in the avenues 
to villas and country houses."* 

Relative to what mulberry trees are distinct species, 
and what only varieties, the greatest discrepancy and 
want of distinctness, as already observed, are found 
in the works of the most popular writers on this sub- 
ject. The real case, no doubt, is that sufficient trial 
has not yet been made to determine which of the 
several kinds are producible, without variation, from 
their own seed, and therefore distinct species ; and 
which are not, and consequently hybrids, or the mere 
creatures of local and accidental circumstances, or to 
be sustained only by artificial culture. Until this in- 
teresting, as well as important point is satisfactorily 
ascertained, we prefer, as to those we quote as spe- 
cies, to abide by the Linnsean classification, sanc- 
tioned by Dr. Lardner, as good authority ; though at 
the same time, we doubt not, but that some of the 
kinds not yet ranked as species, will eventually, by 
further experience, be proved to be such. 

Species I. Morus Nigra, or black mulberry, a na- 
tive of Asia Minor. The leaves are large and rugged. 
Its fruit is large, black, aromatic, juicy, subacid, and 
good. The leaves will answer for the food of silk 
worms ; but those of other kinds are more suitable. 
It is much used, however, in Persia, where good silk 
is produced : the European red mulberry is said to 
be a variety of the black, and is used in Calabria, and 
in some parts of Italy.! It rises from twenty-five to 
thirty feet. 

The morus nigra never has been extensively used 
where the morus alba was known. "The sewing 

* See " Hints on the Cultivation of the Mulberry," dedicated to the 
American Institute, by Seignor Tinelli, LL.D., or Silk Culturist, torn, 
iii. p. 36 et seg. 

-j- See Silk Culturist, vol. ii. p. 134, col. 1 and 2 ; also p. 158, col. 3, 
et seg. On page 3 of the same work, we read, " The black mulberry 
grows spontaneously in the wilds of some of the southern and western 
states. The worms will eat the leaves and thrive upon them, but the 
silk they make is of a very inferior quality." 



THE MULBERRY TREE. 137 

silks of Naples are mostly made from the silk grown 
in Calabria, where the worm is fed principally on the 
black mulberry, and which makes the strongest and 
best of sewing silk. Finizio* stated that the worm 
fed on the black mulberry made the strongest thread ; 
that on the white mulberry finer and better for fa- 
brics."! The relative fineness of silk produced from 
the black and white mulberry may be compared to 
that between hemp and flax in linen. 

Species II. Morus Rubra, or the red mulberry, a 
native of America.^ The leaves are large, cordate, 
often palmated, and more often two or three lobed, 
denticulated, dark green above, downy beneath, rug- 
ged. The fruit is of a very deep red or black colour, 
an oblong shape, and of an agreeable, acidulous, 
sugary taste. It is composed of the union of a great 
number of small berries, each of which contains a 
minute seed. The tree often exceeds sixty feet in 
height, and two feet in diameter. The wood is of a 
yellowish hue, aproaching to lemon colour, fine 
grained and compact, and durable as the white locust. 
Several varieties of this tree are quoted, viz. 

1. Leaves all orbiculated (round.) 

2. Leaves deeply lobed. 

3. Leaves with three short lobes. 

4. Fruit berries nearly white. 

5. Fruit berries bluish purple. 

6. Fruit berries red and long. 

7. Fruit berries blackish red. 

Though the red mulberry is said to be peculiar to 



* An extensive manufacturer of sewing silks at Naples. He makes 
about 3000 lb. a week, most It/ for the New York market ! 

f Silk Cul. from letter of General Tallmadge, p. 133, col. 3. 

t " Michaux assigns the same limits north to it as to the majestic 
and beautiful tulip tree, (lirisdendron tulipifera,) viz. the northern ex- 
tremity of Lake Champlain ; but it also grows in Massachusetts. 
Southward and westward it abounds in all the states, and has recently 
been found as far west as the lower part of the river Canadian, by 
Dr. James, U. S. Army." — Annals of the Lyceum, New York, vol. ii. 
p. 246. 

12 * 



138 THE MULBERRY TREE. 

America, yet in the Silk Culturist, p. 1 34,* we read 
as follows. "The red mulberry is here, (south of 
Italy,) principally used, and is known as the Calabria 
mulberry. It is described as having a dark fruit ; the 
tree is like our black, and when I called it the black 
mulberry, I was corrected, and told that the stain 
of the fruit was red, which gave the character of the 
tree." 

The experience of more than a century has esta- 
blished the fact, that the leaves of the red mulberry 
agree perfectly well with silk worms, and yield very 
good silk ; it is, therefore, somewhat singular that M. 
Deslongchmaps should assert that the leaves do not 
suit the constitution of French ivorms ! Yet Ma- 
dame Humbertt in Louisiana, and Mr. Seth Milling- 
ton:]: of Missouri affirm that the insects evinced no 
preference between the leaves of the white and red 
species, but that the silks produced from both " were 
stronger and finer than that of France." Preference 
is, notwithstanding, generally given to the leaves of 
the white mulberry. § Much evidence, the detail of 
which is too long for our limits, in favour of the 
American red mulberry, is given in the Silk Culturist, 
vol. ii. p. 172, col. 3, and p. 173. 

Mr. S. R. Jones || affirms that in its native state, it 
yields a large cruantity of leaves of a bright glossy 
green, and smooth texture, many of which by actual 
trial, measure twelve inches in length and nine in 
breadth, and weigh a quarter of a pound avoirdupois 
a piece. Should this species of mulberry prove to be 
valuable, it will be a source of almost incalculable 
profit to the families of the south west. Already ac- 
climated no danger need to be apprehended from the 



* Letter from General Tallmadge. 
j- Du Pratt's Hist, of Louisiana, p. 187. 

\ Answer to the silk circular sent by secretary of the treasury, 1827. 
§ But see a somewhat spirited article in the Silk Culturist, vol. ii. 
p. 158, col. 3 et seq. from the Mechanic's Messenger. 
|| lb. vol. iii., p. 34, col. 1, et seq. 



THE MULBERRY TREE. 139 

severity of our winters. Another species of mulberry 
which I have discovered, yields a beautiful leaf, ele- 
ven inches long, but which weighs only half as much 
as the rubra. It is a very fine and brilliant leaf with 
a lobe or ear on each side, about midway between its 
widest place, and its point, which gives it a peculiar 
appearance. The worm is voraciously fond of it, I 
think it to be a valuable kind especially for second 
crops/'* 

Species III. Broussonetia Papyrifera,! or Ja- 
pan paper mulberry. The leaves are rough, either 
cordate, entire or lobed. The tree is of rapid growth 
and rises to a large size, with a round head. It is a 
native of China and Japan. From the inner bark of 
its branches, the Japanese make their paper ; and also 
certain articles of clothing. Its leaves are also used 
as food for the silk worm, for which purpose the tree 
is now successfully cultivated in France.^ 

* " From the character of the leaves and fruit of a. native mulberry tree 
growing in Washita,* there is reason to believe that it is a different 
species from the moras rubra. The leaves are three-lobed, three-nerved, 
unequally serrated ; base, subcordate entire ; lobes, ovate oblong, acute 
or acuminate ; sinuses broad, with large interjected acute teeth. Both 
surfaces rough. The leaves are larger than those of the red species. 
Upper lobes more ovate, with base narrower ; no pubescence beneath : 
lateral lobes narrower than the middle teeth of the sinuses, sometimes 
entire, sometimes with a few unequal teeth on the side, upper sinuses 
broader than the lower." 

-j- " Termed Broussonetia," says Count Dandolo, " from the name of 
M. Augustus Broussonet, a distinguished professor." 

i " The bark of this tree not only furnishes fibres for ropes, but it can 
even be formed into a species of cloth. M. la Rouverie affirms, that he 
procured a beautiful vegetable silk from the young branches of this spe- 
cies of mulberry ; cutting the bark while the tree was in sap, and then 
beating it with mallets and steeping it in water, he obtained a thread from 
the fibres, almost equal to silk in quality ; and this was woven into a 
cloth whose texture appeared as if formed of that material. The women 
of Louisiana obtain a similar production from the off-shoots of the mul- 
berry. These are gathered when they are about four or five feet high. 
The bark is stripped and dried in the sun. It is then beaten to get rid 
of the external part, which falls off, leaving the inner bark entire. This 
is again beaten, to make it still finer, after which it is bleached in dew. 
It is then spun, and various fabrics are made from it, such as webs and 

* Sent by Judge Bry to the secretary of the treasury : Letter from the secretary 
of the treasury. 



140 THE MULBERRY TREE. 

The Abbe Grozier speaks of this species, in his 
description of China, in the following manner, " This 
tree is so much more precious to the Chinese, because 
it furnishes them with a great quantity of paper which 
they consume. When its branches are broken, the 
bark detaches itself and peels off like long ribands. 
To judge of the species by the leaves, it would be 
thought to be a wild mulberry tree ; but by its fruit, 
it resembles more a fig tree. It produces milk like 
the fig, if pulled before it ripens. Its resemblance to 
the fig and mulberry trees, may be the cause of its 
being regarded as a species of sycamore. It grows 
on mountains and stony places." 

Species IV. and V. Morus Tinctoria, and the 
Morus Indica, which seem not to be generally 
known, are not used for the nourishment of the silk 
worm. 

Species VI. Morus Tartarica, or Tartarian 
mulberry, abounds on the borders of the Sea of 
Azoph, and on the banks of the Volga, and of the 
Don or Tanais. The leaves are large, oval, oblong, 
serrated, and shining. The fruit resembles the Morus 
Nigra. The leaves afford silk of the finest quality. 

It is proper that we should in this place state, that 
Count Dandolo, in the enumeration of his 12 species, 
mentions the Morus Constantinopolitana, as well 
as the Morus Tartarica. But he nowhere mentions 
the Morus Broussa. This circumstance, and the 
proximity of Constantinople to Broussa, warrant the 
presumption, until evidence to the contrary, that these 
two are the same. It has been asserted that the 
Broussa can be raised from its own seed ; it is, there- 
fore, a species ; and whether this species may be con- 
sidered or not the same as the Morus Tartarica or 
Tartarian mulberry, may be in some degree, deter- 
mined from the note below.* 

fringes ; and sometimes it is woven into cloth. The finest sort of cloth- 
ing among the inhabitants of Otaheite, and other of the South Sea 
Islands, is made of the bark of this tree." — Dr. Lardner. 

* " The silks of Turkey have long been celebrated for their softness, 



THE MULBERRY TREE. 141 

Species VII. Morus Alba, called the White or 
Italian mulberry. This species originally was from 
China, but has been most extensively cultivated in 
Italy and France for ages. The silk which it produces 
is of the finest quality. The leaves are cordate, serrate, 
entire or lobed. Their upper surface is a shining 
green, perfectly smooth, and the under has some hairs 
set on its edges. The flowers are monoecial ; some 
males, disposed in cylindrical chatons, supported on 
peduncles, longer than themselves : the others, females, 
form round or oval chatons, rather short peduncles, 
which are succeeded by small berries of the same 
form, and of a red or white colour. The fruit is 
white, roundish oblong and insipid. It is a tree of a 
rapid growth. In the climate of Paris it attains to the 
height of 25 or 30 feet, but in more southern countries 
of 40 or 50 feet, with a trunk from 6 to 8 feet circum- 
ference.* This tree is known to have attained the 

richness and brilliancy. This can only be accounted for, from the supe- 
rior excellence of the Turkish mulberry," (Tartarica, Constantinopoli- 
tana or Droussa ?) "Fortunately there are already trees growing in this 
country" (America) "from the seeds of the Broussa mulberry. Mr. 
Charles Rhind, some years American Consul at Odessa," {where the Tar- 
tarica is indigenous,) " struck with the beauty and the brilliancy of the 
Turkish silk, came to the conclusion, that it was attributable to the superior 
qualities of their mulberry leaves ; and that he could not confer a greater 
benefit on his country, than in acquiring the seed of this species, and 
planting it here. From the local situation of Broussa, which is on ele- 
vated ground at the base of mount Olympus, whose tops are covered 
with perpetual snow, and from the hardiness of the mulberry trees grow- 
ing there, he concluded that they were adapted to our climate, and would 
resist our severest winters. He obtained a quantity of the Broussa 
seed, and committed it to the care and cultivation of David Ruggles, Esq., 
of Newburgh on the Hudson River. Under the superintendence of Mr. 
Ruggles, he has growing in his nursery, ten or tivelve thousand trees 
of about three years old. Mr. Ruggles asserts that these trees are very 
hardy, and that not one of the several thousands growing in his nursery, 
has been affected or killed by the frost of the two last severe winters." — 
The Cultivator, vol. iv. p. 14. 

" I wish, however, to be understood that by Broussa, I do not mean 
all those various hinds, which are sold under that name, but I have a 
direct reference to the tree or trees which Mr. Charles Rhind brought from 
Broussa to this country." — Letter of Mr. C. F. Durant to the Secretary 
of the American Institute, February, 1838. 

* The bark, according to Rosier, may be converted into linen of the 



142 THE MULBERRY TREE. 

venerable age of more than 400 years. Its superiority- 
over every other mulberry, except the moms multi- 
caulis, consists in this ; it is clothed with leaves fifteen 
or twenty days earlier than the other ; the silk worms, 
therefore, come more speedily at maturity, and are 
thus preserved from the inconvenience of the hot sea- 
son. The white Italian mulberry, moreover, not only 
grows more rapidly, but has a more abundant foliage ; 
and leaves more delicate and nutritious, whence the 
silk is more handsome, and of a better quality. 

The forms of the leaves are extremely variable. 
M. Audibert,* an experienced cultivator in France, 
says, " that the same tree will have leaves divided 
into several lobes, when young, and when it becomes 
old, they will be entire ; others have the second crop 
of leaves differently formed from the first ; some again 
have entire leaves in the spring, and lobed leaves in 
autumn. Hence the difficulty that not unfrequently 
occurs on this and other accounts, of stating what are 
distinct species, and what are merely varieties. 

Of this tree it is generally confessed indeed, that 
there are, even when raised from seed several varie- 
ties ; many of which are of inferior quality, the trees 
being thorny, the leaves small and few in number. 
Hence Count Dandolo sought improvement by en- 
grafting or inoculation with the large leaved kinds. 
He particularly mentions those known in Lombardy, 
by the names, folia doppia, and folia giazzolia. 
M. Bourgeois and M. Thome recommend those graft- 
ed with the rose-leaved and Spanish mulberry. 

The Count says, " the common grafted mulberry 
comprises the following varieties : 1. Of a white 
berry : 2. Of a red berry : 3. Of a black berry : 4. 
Of a large leaf called of Tuscany : 5. Of a middle 

fineness of silk. For this purpose, the young wood is gathered in autumn, 
during the ascent of the second sap, and immersed for three or four days 
in water. It is then taken out at sunset, spread on grass, and returned 
to the water at sunrise, and this is daily repeated, until finally it is pre- 
pared and spun like flax. 

* Essai sur des muriers, et des vers-a-soie, par M. Deslongchamps, p. 
21. Paris, 1824. 



THE MULBERRY TREE. 143 

sized leaf, dark green, called in Italy, folia giaz- 
zola : 6. Small leaf, of a dark colour rather thick 
called double leaf, more difficult to pick, but the best 
calculated for the nutrition of the silk worm." 

M. Morin, who paid particular attention to the 
mulberry, informs us, that " the careful culture of the 
white mulberry has produced many varieties, distin- 
guishable into the wild and grafted. The first com- 
prises four sub-varieties ; the first called feullle 
rose, rose leaf bears a small white insipid fruit, and 
its leaf is rounded like the small leaf of a rose-bush, 
but larger : the second, la feullle doree, the gold 
leaf has a small purple fruit, and an elongated shin- 
ing leaf: the third, la reine batarde, or bastard 
queen, is distinguished by its black fruit, and its 
leaves, which are twice as large as the rose leafed, 
indented in their circumference, at the superior ex- 
tremely elongated to a point : the fourth is called, 
pemelle, the tree is thorny, it puts forth flowers be- 
fore leaves, which are divided into three lobes like 
clover. 

In the grafted mulberry we distinguish also four 
varieties; 1. La reine, the queen, with leaves shin- 
ing and larger than any of the wild ; its fruit is ash- 
coloured : 2. La grosse reine, large queen, has 
leaves of a deep green, and a black fruit : 3. La 
feuille d'EspAGNE, the Spanish leaf bears very 
large leaves, extremely rough and thick, and a long 
white berry : and 4. La feuille de flocs, the woolly 
leafed, is of a deep green, very like the former, but 
less elongated and disposed in tufts on the boughs. 
Its fruit very abundant, but never comes to maturity. 

However, as it is very difficult to distinguish the 
wild mulberry, as the morns alba grow nowhere in 
Europe spontaneously, but we meet with them al- 
ways cultivated ; and the young plants that grow in 
the nurseries cannot be considered as wild specimens, 
since they come from seed obtained from trees, that 
a long culture has more or less modified, and that 
they have themselves sometimes undergone new 



144 THE MULBERRY TREE. 

changes by the effects of a change of climate and pe- 
culiar treatment in the culture ; therefore it is, that in 
even the trees of a distinct species raised from seed 
we observe differences more or less considerable in 
the thickness or size of the leaf or in the habit of re- 
maining entire, or dividing into lobes. And if these 
young trees were not grafted before bearing fruit, we 
should find in them differences which might serve to 
distinguish them; but, otherwise, they must create 
new varieties from each particular seed. 

The only varieties of which it will be useful to 
mention are those which, being propagated for a long- 
er or shorter time from the seed, have been distin- 
guished as exhibiting remarkable characters or quali- 
ties, and which, therefore, pains have been taken to 
multiply by cuttings or by grafting on seeding plants 
in the nursery which are called wild stock. Such 
are the following : 

1. Morus alba rosea, rose leafed mulberry. 
The tree is slender, with branches more extended 
than all the other grafted varieties. It may, however, 
attain a great height. Its wood is more solid and 
compact. Its leaves are shining as if varnished, rarely 
lobed, borne on rose petioles ; and its fruit is of a rose 
gray. 

2. Morus alba ovalifolia, oval leafed white 
mulberry, or Roman mulberry. The tree is large, 
and grows rapidly. Its leaves are large and hand- 
some, shining on the upper surface ; whole and some- 
times divided into three or five lobes on the young 
and vigorous stems. Its berries are rose gray or lilac. 
This variety is most prevalent in Provence, or in the 
environs of Avignon or Languedoc. It is agreed that 
the rose leafed variety produces a leaf of superior 
quality, which gives a good silk, and occasions not 
those diseases to the worms which arise from leaves 
too moist, or from a soil too fertile. 

3. Morus alba macrophylla, the grosse reine 
white mulberry. This variety grows large, but not 
higher than the Roman. Its snoots are large, and its 



THE MULBERRY TREE. 145 

buds nearer together. No other variety exhibits so 
large leaves. They are a little more plaited, and their 
petiole is short. The berries are large and white, 
very sugary, without, however, the agreeable acidity 
of the berries of the black species. A smaller quan- 
tity of this variety is planted, and its leaves are only 
given towards the end of the feeding season, or when 
the worms are on the eve of moulting. 

4. Morus alba oblongifolia, or langue de boeuf, 
or ox tongue mulberry. Leaves large, shining, not 
lobed ; nearly twice as long as broad. This variety 
is cultivated in the Cevennes ; but it is not much 
esteemed. They prefer that called colombassette, 
which seems to be a sub-variety of the rose leafed 
mulberry of Provence. 

5. Morus alba nana, the dwarf white mulberry. 
This tree is a little larger than that known under the 
name of Constantinople mulberry. Its leaves are 
like those of the grosse reine, but its berries are white. 

The dwarf mulberry may be advantageously cul- 
tivated, since its boughs are near ; and this tree of 
small size will furnish as many leaves as another 
thrice its magnitude ; and a greater number can be 
planted on the same space of land. 

6. Morus alba integrifolia. A mulberry with 
leaves always whole and shining. 

7. Morus alba integrifolia obscura. Leaves 
always whole but not shining. 

8. Morus alba semilobata, with large leaves, 
tough as leather; divided into from two to five lobes. 

9. Morus alba lobata. Leaves divided as far 
as the centre into from three to five lobes. This mul- 
berry has three sub-varieties, viz. of very large, mid- 
dling or very small leaves. 

10. Morus alba laciniata. This variety has its 
leaves divided into five deep lobes ; of which the 
middle one, larger than all the others, is itself divided 
into five or six alternate lobes. To these varieties 
may be added another cultivated now for some years 
past in the Jardin du Roi, and brought from the Isle 

13 



146 THE MULBERRY TREE. 

of Bourbon, by Captain Philibert. Its leaves are 
whole and scarcely marked, nearly dull on the upper 
surface, more decidedly pubescent on the lower than 
other white mulberries. Its parenchyme or pitch is 
rather small and dry. It withstands the rigour of the 
winter even when unprotected by the cultivator. 

M. Loiseleur Deslongchamps has pointed out still 
further varieties of the white mulberry, interesting on 
account of the qualities they possess for the nourish- 
ment of the silk worm. 

"The first is la colombassette. This is the 
most ancient known variety ; its leaf is small, slender, 
thin, very soft ; the silk worms prefer it to other kinds. 
The berries at maturity are yellowish and very large. 
The trees are the largest of the species, and of the 
longest duration. 

"The second is la rose. Its leaf is a little larger, 
and of rather deeper green than the colombassette. 
It is as good for the nourishment of the worms. Its 
berries are reddish, and of the same size as those of 
the preceding variety. 

"The third is la colombasse verte, exhibiting 
two sub-varieties, which are designated by the names 
of the large and the small colombasse verte. Its leaves 
are not so fine as the two first, but they are larger 
and more elongated. Its berries are bluish, and not 
so large as those of the colombassette and la rose. 

" The fourth is la rabalayre, or traineuse ; a 
variety much resembling the colombasse verte : but 
which is essentially distinguished from it, in its buds 
being further apart, and of consequence the tree pro- 
duces less leaves ; but as it is less exhausted by the 
production of foliage, it grows large and developes 
itself rapidly. The tree bears few berries; which 
are of the same colour as those of the colombasse 
verte. 

The fifth, la poumaou, or la pomme. Its leaf is 
large, rather fine, and of a round form. The tree 
produces scarcely any berries, and though it does not 
throw out shoots as long as the other varieties, it fur- 



THE MULBERRY TREE. 147 

nishes a sufficiently large quantity of leaves, because 
its branches are leaved in their whole extent. 

"The sixth, la meyne. This variety has the 
greatest resemblance to the preceding, both in quality 
and size. The form of the leaf is not so round. 

"The seventh, l'amella, or l'amande. The leaf 
of this variety is oval, much thicker and heavier than 
that of all the preceding, and more difficult to gather. 
It suffers less than those from the cold, or from winds 
and dew which produce mildew or mould ; a disease 
of the leaf that is productive of loss. The tree yields 
very few berries. 

"The eighth is la forcade, or la fourche; a va- 
riety, whose leaf is nearly round, and very abundant, 
on account of the proximity of its buds. 

"The ninth is la dure. It bears this name, because 
its leaves are really hard, not for the worms, but in 
detaching them from the branches. It requires strong 
arms to gather them j and labourers to make the 
work lighter, detach them singly. Its leaves are 
nearly round, rather fine, and are produced as abund- 
antly as those of the fourcade. It produces no berries. 

"The tenth is l' admirable. This variety exceeds 
all the others in the size of its leaves, which are 
strong and thick, and, by reason of the nearness of the 
buds, produces them in greater abundance. They, 
generally, are not given till after the fourth moulting, 
because the worms then have the requisite strength 
and appetite to eat them without injury. When 
this tree is set deeply and well cultivated, its leaves 
attain an extraordinary size. It is not then uncom- 
mon to find them even eleven inches long by nine 
broad. The berries are few, small, and grayish." 

Of these ten varieties the colombasse, and the co- 
lombassette, are most favourable to the health of the 
worm, and to improvement in silk, both as it respects 
quantity and quality. Notwithstanding, in France, 
the preference, generally, is given to the poumaou, 
the meyne, the fourcade, l'amella and V admirable, 
on account of the abundance of leaves they produce. 



148 THE MULBERRY TREE. 

The above are varieties of the white mulberry ; 
and it is evident from what has been said, that varie- 
ties of this, and of the other species, may, by artificial 
culture and other means, be tortured to an almost 
indefinite extent. But with regard to what are the 
several species of the genus mulberry, we have al- 
ready observed that, authors differ; and, perhaps, 
will do, until we can find combined in one, the cha- 
racter of the accurate botanist, and that of the prac- 
tical horticulturist, whose skill is the result of long- 
continued and patient observation. Count Dandolo 
has enumerated no less than twelve kinds as species. 
Eminent, no doubt, he justly is ; but then it is chiefly 
for the accurate development of his valuable expe- 
rience relative to the wants, habits, and economy of 
the silk worm, but not as a phytologist. The follow- 
ing, however, is his enumeration of species. 

" 1. Morus alba. 2. M. tartaria. 3. M. Constan- 
tinopolitana. 4. M. nigra, (the common mulberry 
well known ; its fruit of a sweet flavour. Particu- 
larly cultivated in the ex-Venetian provinces.) 5. M. 
rubra, (cultivated in botanical gardens.) 6. M. in- 
dica, (also cultivated for botanical purposes.) 7. M. 
latifolio, cultivated in botanical hot-houses. 8. M. 
australis. 9. M. mauritiana, (these three latter 
sort are little known in Italy.) 10. M. tinctoria. 
11. M. papyri/era. (These two last have been 
recently transported into another class of plants, 
termed M. Broussonetia.) The list I have given 
sufficiently shows the variety of mulberry leaves 
which might be found even more suitable to the 
nourishment of the silk worm, than those hitherto 
used." 

With the exception of the enumeration of a few of 
the varieties of the white mulberry, the above is all 
the information we shall derive from Count Dandolo's 
work "on the Art of rearing Silk Worms" relative 
to what kinds are distinct species of the mulberry ; 
though as to the subject on which it professedly treats, 
we shall find the most ample satisfaction. But how 



THE MULBERRY TREE. 149 

very different is this from the enumeration of species 
given in Loudon's " Encyclopaedia of Plants;" than 
which, both as a botanical work, and a recent pro- 
duction, no other Treatise stands equally and more 
justly eminent.* In this work the kinds ranked as 
species are only five, viz. 

Class, Monoecea ; Order, Tetrandria ; Genus, 
Morus. 

Species I. Alba; white; China; leaves deeply cordate, 
unequal at the base, ovate, lobed, unequally ser- 
rated, smoothish. 

Species II. Tartarica ; Tartarian ; Tartary ; leaves 
slightly cordate, equal at the base, ovate or 
lobed, equally serrated, smooth.! 

Species III. Nigra; black or common; Italy; leaves 
cordate, ovate or lobed, unequally toothed, sca- 
brous.;}: 

Species IV. Rubra; red; North America; leaves cor- 
date, ovate, acuminate or three-lobed, equally 
serrated, scabrous, soft beneath. Fern., spikes 
cylindrical^ 

Species V. Tinctoria; fusticwood; West Indies ; leaves 
oblong, unequal at the base; spines axillary, 
solitary. § 

* « Encyclopaedia of Plants," by J. C. Loudon, F.L.S. H.S., &c. and 
others, London, 1836, 8vo. pp. 1160, price £3 13s. 6c?. In the produc- 
tion of this volume more botanical works have been consulted than most 
men can have access to in a century. 

\ " Morus rubra has black shoots, rougher leaves than the black mul- 
berry, and a dark reddish fruit, longer than the common sort, and of a 
very pleasant taste. The tree is cultivated in China, but not so gene- 
rally as the white mulberry. Morus tartarica bears pale red berries of 
an insipid taste, but eaten in Russia fresh, conserved or dried." 

t " Young trees, like most of the monoecious class, often produce 
only male blossoms for many years after they are planted, and yet after- 
wards become fruitful. As the tree increases in age, it increases in 
fruitfulness. In some of the old gardens near London, there are black 
mulberry trees, of a great age, which are very healthy and fruitful ; 
most of which were planted in the time of James I." 

§ " Morus tinctoria is a tall branching tree, with a fine head, smooth 
leaves, and awl-shaped solitary spines. The whole plant abounds in a 
13* 



150 THE MULBERRY TREE. 



Notwithstanding these authorities, we find, in a 
recent publication, the following noticed, not as a 
variety ', but as a species, viz. 

" Dandolo, or Morettianna mulberry, is a new 
and most valuable species of mulberry for the nou- 
rishment of the silk worm. It was first discovered 
about 1815, by M. Moretti, professor in the Univer- 
sity of Pavia. The tree is presumed to be hardy ; 
the fruit which is at first violet, becomes at maturity 
perfectly black. The leaf is ovate, sharp pointed, 
entire, cordate at the base. It is thin, smooth on the 
under and especially on the upper surface ; which is 
of a beautiful and rather deep shining green. It is 
not near so thick as that of the large white mulberry, 
called in France the admirable : and is thinner than 
that of the Spanish mulberry or morus nigra. It 
is neither wrinkled nor plaited. Generally, the leaf 
is nearly eight inches wide, and ten inches long. 
This mulberry will be most profitably cultivated in 
the form of a hedge, and from the superior size of the 
leaf, its foliage is gathered with facility. Its superior 
quality has been proved by the experiments of M. 
Gera, and Count Dandolo, who assert that it pro- 
duces silk of a more beautiful gloss, and finer quality 
than common silk.* 

The following, however, by the somewhat indeter- 
minate language and method of the same author is 
acknowledged to be a variety. 

" Morus lucida, or shining leaved. The leaves 



slightly glutinous milk of a sulphureous colour. The timber is yellow, 
and a good deal used in dyeing, for which it is imported under the name 
of fusticwood." 

" All the species of morus are remarkable for putting out their leaves 
late ; so that when they appear, gardeners, may safely set out their 
greenhouse plants, taking it for granted, that all danger from frost is 
over." — Loudon's Encycl. of Plants, p. 783. 

* See the whole article inserted by the Hon. H. A. S. Dearborn, in 
the New England Farmer, vol. viii. No. 29. It is from the Annales 
d'Horticulture ; and it is extracted from the report of Dr. Fontaneilles, 
on a letter published by M. Gera in 1826, in the Journal of Physics and 
of Chemistry of Pavia. 






THE MULBERRY TREE. 151 

are very large, pointed, cordate and shining. This 
variety is said to be highly deserving of cultivation 
for the nourishment of silk worms." 



CHAPTER II. 

ON THE CULTURE OF SPECIES, OR OF KINDS CAPABLE OF 
REPRODUCTION FROM SEED. 

CLIMATE, SOU, SITUATION, SEED, SEEDLINGS, NURSERIES, ENGRAFT- 
ING, &C. TRANSPLANTING, STANDARDS, PLANTATIONS, INSTRU- 
MENTS. 

The question of climate refers at once not only 
to the mulberry, but also to the silk worm ; for the 
former would cease to be an interesting object of 
cultivation, could it be found in a region where it 
might be satisfactorily proved that the latter, at least 
with such adventitious means as peculiar circum- 
stances might require, could not exist, or perform, 
with success, functions so important to the conve- 
niences of man. Both the one and the other, as the 
question refers to latitude, have been found in a 
prosperous condition, in all parallels from the equator 
to that of fifty-four degrees in Russia, and of fifty- 
five degrees in Sweden. But how far the influence 
of moisture held in solution, within topical limits, in 
the atmosphere, may be corrected, is a question that 
remains yet to be proved, by that peculiar kind of 
cocoonery, which hereafter, for distinction sake, we 
shall call the Dandoliere, which is useful chiefly in 
countries where humidity is prevalent.* 

* " The silk worm is by no means so delicate as many may imagine. 
Mr. Cobb saw the insects raised by M. d'Homergue in a yard of mul- 
berry trees in Philadelphia, which endured cold windy days, and storms 
of rain and thunder ; and notwithstanding spun in thirty days. At 
Northampton, also, the eggs of the silk worm, which had been deposited 



152 THE MULBERRY TREE. 

In the recommendation of soil proper for the cul- 
ture of the mulberry, there has, amongst authors, been 
some discrepancy. Although it is to be conceded that 
this invaluable plant will flourish in a moist and rich 
soil, and even, of course, more luxuriantly when thus 
favoured than it otherwise would, yet experience has 
proved that not only the leaves thus produced are not 
so suitable to the health of the worms, but that the 
vegetative function is thus protracted too late in the 
autumn to allow the young wood to ripen sufficiently 
to withstand the attacks of early frost. The majority 
of authors, therefore, and amongst them the most ex- 
perienced, agree that the soil should be dry, sandy 
loam, or stony. It has been even said, though per- 
haps the opposite extreme, " the more stony the bet- 
ter, provided that the roots can penetrate." Of stiffer 
soils, a calcareous sandy clay is to be preferred. But 
clay that is heavy, and earth that is fenny or marshy, 
and on which through excess of moisture, the frost 
has greater power in winter, not only expose young 
trees to greater danger before their coating is formed 
and wood matured, but also favour the growth of 
moss on the bark, and of leaves too full of moisture 
to suit the health of the worm. In this country, it is 
admitted as a general rule, that all soils adapted to 
the culture of Indian corn, or that will produce ten 
bushels and more to the acre, are adapted to the cul- 
ture of the mulberry. 

As to situation or shelter, all agree, that nurse- 
ries and plantations should have a sunny exposure, 
and protection against strong cold winds. Declivities, 
hill sides, land sloping towards the east, south-east 

on the outside of a window frame, remained uninjured and hatched well, 
although they had endured alternate sunshine and cold winds and storms, 
and the extreme rigours of the last uncommon winter, and a degree of 
cold thirty-three degrees below zero. There too stood the common 
white mulberry, and the multicaulis ; the plants of three years growth. 
A shelter, however, is necessary for the silk worm, to defend it at once 
from long and fatal storms, and from insects and birds of prey." — Ken- 
rick. See on the subject of Climate, the History of Silk in this volume, 
as it refers to China. 



THE MULBERRY TREE. 153 

or south, and protected on the north and north-west, 
by woods, groves, artificial plantations, or buildings, 
are situations eligible to favour and sustain the growth 
of the mulberry. 

As tO the PREPARATION OF THE GROUND if for 

standard trees, let it be manured in the cavity dug 
for the tree, but if for hedge rows, in the drill, with a 
compost made of one-eighth lime, three-eighths mould 
or decomposed leaves, one-fourth stable manure half 
rotted, and the remaining fourth of leached ashes, 
prepared and suffered previously to mellow for three 
or four months, during which it should be three or 
four times turned up and mixed with any well rotted 
manure. The ground itself should be prepared, if for 
hedge rows, by previous ploughing in the autumn, 
and once again on the opening of spring. The reader 
will recollect that we now treat of the white, &c. 
mulberry, as the varieties require different culture. 
But if it is to be prepared FOR a seed bed; manure 
it well with a compost made of stable manure, ashes, 
decomposed leaves, of each one-third, or instead with 
any well rotted manure. Let the soil be dug deeply, 
finely pulverized, and laid off in drills twelve inches 
apart, and half an inch deep. 

To obtain the seed. As fast as the fruit ripens, 
it should be gathered, otherwise it will fall from the 
tree and be lost, or devoured by birds. When a 
portion of the fruit is ripe, spread blankets under the 
trees, and shake them gently every morning during 
the ripening season. By this means the ripe berries 
are disengaged from the boughs, and falling on the 
blankets, are easily gathered, whilst those that are 
unripe remain undisturbed. 

To prepare the seed.* To avoid fermentation, 

* To save the seed of the white mulberry, M. de Labegaire gives the 
following directions. " Gather the berries as they fall from the tree ; 
put them for two days in a dry place, where they must be turned up 
and down for fear they should be heated ; after which mash them with 
your hands in a tub, pouring over them some water from time to time 
in order to separate the seed from the must. Let then the water settle 
for a quarter of an hour, and all the useless particles floating over will 



154 THE MULBERRY TREE. 

suffer not the seed to remain in the fruit longer than 
three days; but put it into any convenient vessel, 
and mash the fruit with the hand, into a pulp. On 
this mass, having poured water, stir it briskly till a 
complete separation takes place between the seed and 
the pulp. During the process, frequently decant the 
water from off the sediment, and with it suffer all 
super-natant seed to flow off, as not good. Rub the 
last sediment through a sieve with meshes of sufficient 
size to admit the passage of the seed, which should 
be then laid on bibulous paper, or spread thinly on 
cloths and dried in the shade. Put it finally in bot- 
tles, when well dried, and by corking well, by situa- 
tion and other means, exclude the light, air, and 
dampness. The white mulberry seed is of an obtuse 
triangular shape ; and of a dark, dull, yellow colour, 
and full of oil. The fruit of the white mulberry, when 
ripe, if put in the ground whole, will vegetate imme- 
diately, and if the plant be kept weeded, will be suf- 
ficiently advanced, with the aid of a slight covering, 
to stand the winter. The first fruit of this tree ripens 
about June. It may be sowed on well pulverized 
ground and covered with a fine toothed rake. As to 
the preparation of seed, so far as it refers to imme- 
diate sowing, be it remembered that there are authors 
who recommend previous soaking, some in cold, others 
in warm, some in hot, others in boiling water! ! 
and a few in oxy muriatic acid, or in a solution of 
the chlorate of potassa, for a time varying according 
to the creed of the several experimentalists, from six to 
forty-eight hours ! All this, at best, in the present 
state of this soaking theory, or without further limi- 
tation, is indefinite and venturesome. It may be very 
well, on the small scale, as to some limited crop, or 
as a matter of experiment. But should this time for 

be taken out. Repeat the washings till the seed is disengaged and pure. 
The best seed being the heaviest, will stay at the bottom of the tub. 
Then spread the seed to dry upon a piece of linen, and when dry it 
must be put by till the season for sowing," — which should be about 
the 1st of May. 



THE MULBERRY TREE. 155 

soaking, particularly as it refers to any large crop, be 
protracted, which it may especially in the hurry of 
the spring season, by the labourers being prevented 
by other pressing duties, from sowing the soaked seed 
until after the germinative vigour of the seed is ex- 
hausted by this precocious and ill-timed process, the 
whole crop, whether it be of one or twenty acres, will 
be unquestionably lost.* As to the term hot\ water, 
it is grossly ambiguous, and the term boiling not less 
questionable, however recommended. On the whole 
it would be safer, especially to avoid the possibility 
of previous accident and delay, instead of antecedent 
soaking, to water, from the common gardening pot, 
after the dry seed is in the ground, the beds, with a 
very mild% solution of the carbonate of potassa. This 
was never yet tried but with success. The Chinese 
books say, " when the time for sowing is come, the 
seed must be mixed with some ashes from the burnt 
branches of the mulberry trees, and they must be 
soaked to make them soft. The next day the seed 
must be washed with care, and those that float re- 
jected. The full seed must be dried in the sun until 
the absorbed water has entirely evaporated. They 
can then be sown, and they never fail to grow rapidly." 
Nong-sang-thong-kioue. Here is, however, no men- 
tion of hot or boiling water. 

Mode of testing the quality of seed. — This is 
a point, in this age of studied selfishness and designed 
deceit, far from being unimportant, especially when 
the seed of certain vegetables may, so far as appear- 



* In this way precisely, a farmer lately, within ten miles of Phila- 
delphia, lost the valuable crops of ten acres, on which he relied for the 
payment of his rent. He depended on this soaking theory, and it ren- 
dered him insolvent. 

| " In a solution of soot and hot water for forty-eight hours," says a 
publication of 1838. 

t Two ounces dissolved in three gallons ; and the watering repeated, 
if the season be dry. The water generally, in all natural cases, is 
agent sufficient without any thing adventitious. But a weak alkaline 
solution, or even water with common soap-suds will not injure. On 
the contrary, the result has frequently been a luxuriant crop. 



156 THE MULBERRY TREE. 

ance goes, be easily substituted, and sold at a high 
price, to any one not a connoisseur, for that of the 
mulberry. Seed bought at the shops may not only 
be spurious, productive merely of hybrids, but also 
old, and, therefore, liable to protract the germinating 
process, until neutralized or destroyed by the frost. In 
order to guard against imposition, seed of domestic 
growth should be preferred when it can be obtained, or 
procured at least from those on whose veracity we can 
depend.* Such seed, or that on the quality of which 
we can rely, may be safely, at the proper season, 
committed to the ground ; in it, as well as in the best 
sample, there may be some unproductive seeds, which 
the common vegetative process will in the natural 
way indicate. A recent writer says : " Soak the seed 
in hot water a few hours, when the seed that is 
worthless will float," without having the politeness 
to tell us, how hot. This gentleman, no doubt, is 
fond of a hot potato, but we could readily obtain 
him one, which if it once reached his mouth, he 
would be glad to drop it soon, as a bad concem.t 
" It is computed," says a writer in the first volume 
of Fessenden's Silk Manual, that one ounce of seed 
properly sown will give about 5000 young trees." 
Another writer allows about 8000 trees to the ounce, 
and from the average of these two, we may infer 
100,000 trees to the pound of seed avoirdupois. This 
is confirmed by what Mr. Comstock says, viz : " From 
a single pound of seed, one hundred thousand plants 
may be reasonably expected." There are in one 
pound avoirdupois, of white mulberry seed, about 
322,700 seeds.J This therefore allows one seed 



* Turnip, poppy and other seeds, have been sold in the " down east," 
for the genuine multicaulis seed ; first at $5 an ounce, then at the same 
price for a small paper containing 2000 seeds, not worth one cent. 

•j- " Before sowing," says Judge Comstock, " the seed ought to be 
steeped in water about blood warm, for 24 or 36 hours." Now this is 
definite ; and if the seed be sown immediately after, the above objection 
will not apply; but we should think 24 hours to be amply sufficient. 

i According to an actual trial, made this day, 9th February, 1839. 



THE MULBE3RY TREE. 157 

nearly out of every three to vegetate. On this sub- 
ject, Count de Hazzi, says: " From 9,600 to 10,000 
seeds weigh about one ounce of our Bavarian weight, 
and 320,000, or at least 300,000 seeds may on the 
average be considered to the pound." 

Time of sowing. From the first of Apr iU to the 
beginning of May, or even in favourable situations, 
should circumstances require it, so late as the begin- 
ning of June. But it should be remembered, that 
the earlier the spring sowing, the more strength, 
firmness and bark the seedling will acquire to resist 
the attacks of its first winter, which will be the most 
critical period in the history of the young plant. 
Autumnal sowing for no species of mulberry can be 
fully recommended. But if peculiar circumstances 
should render it desirable when it could not be at- 
tended to in the previous spring, it may be attempted 
with partial safety, not later than the first week of 
August* provided that every facility, by manuring, 
pulverizing, weeding, and subsequent culture, by 
covering the young plants with horse manure, straw 
or refuse hay on the approach of winter, be afforded 
to the beds intended for its reception. 

Manner of sowing. The seed may be sown in 
seed beds or nurseries, as best suits the convenience 
of the cultivator. When land is no object, it will be 
best to sow them in the nursery, as it will save the 
labour of once transplanting. For spring sowing the 
land should be prepared by ploughing, &c, the pre- 
ceding fall. Every cultivator knows the fertilizing 
effects of frost and snow, and consequently ought to 
avail himself of them at the proper season.! The 
ground should also be ploughed again, or two or three 
times if necessary to render it light and friable, in the 

White mulberry seed has been selling in New England at. various prices 
for some years past from $4 00 to even $7 50 per lb. 

* A quantity of seed thus treated in Philadelphia lived through the 
cold winter of 1S25-6. 

■j- Dig or plough the preceding autumn, and leave the ground rough, 
and exposed to the pulverizing action of frost and thaw all winter. 

14 



158 THE MULBERRY TREE. 

spring. Two or three dressings of manure well 
ploughed in, will be of essential service. The seed 
may be sown in drills, at sufficient distances asunder 
to admit of passing between them* for the purpose 
of weeding and hoeing. Roll the seed in plaster of 
Paris, or mix with mould, then sow it tolerably thick, 
as in the sowing of onions or carrots. For a single 
ounce of seed, a bed fifty feet long and four broad, pre 
pared by manuring and culture, as already described, 
will be sufficient. With the rake cover the seed not 
more than half an inch in depth with rich mould, 
and immediately press, or lightly tread, or roll down 
the mould to cause the seed to come into contact with 
the earth ; and over the whole may be laid some 
horse manure. 

Subsequent culture of the seed beds and 
seedlings. Should the weather be dry, water the 
seed beds every other evening. The ground must 
be stirred occasionally, or the soil lightened between 
the drills, and the beds at all times kept clean of 
weeds. With barn-yard drain, or soap-suds, continue 
to water once, in dry weather twice, a week, and in 
every case either before the rising or after the setting 
of the sun. It is important to push, by every means, 
the growth of the young plants sown in spring, in 
order that the stronger ones, at least, may be trans- 
planted into nursery beds on the ensuing spring. 
The watering should not be carried on after August. 

" I have sown the mulberries in July," says Mr. 
Cobb, " and they have sprouted, and come on 
rapidly ; but the frosts of winter, in our climate, (New 
England,) have been too severe for them. I would 
recommend to sow the seed in the spring. From a 
quarter of an acre of ground, the last season, I had 
over 10,000 plants, produced from seed sown in the 
spring, in the way above mentioned," (equivalent to 
40,000 per acre,) " some of them upwards of a foot in 
height." 

* From one to two feet distant. 



THE MULBERRY TREE. 159 

On the near approach of winter, or on the first 
appearance of what is commonly called black frost, 
cover the plant beds with long stable manure, leaves, 
straw, or matting, and confine the covering with 
twigs of pine or evergreen, until the middle of the 
ensuing April. Even then, the covering is to be re- 
moved only with caution, lest the young plants should 
be exposed too suddenly to sudden returns of frost or 
bleak winds before a more mature growth and the 
further advance of spring render them secure. Care 
must be taken, in covering the plants, not to oppress 
or smother them. 

Transplanting does not appear always to take place 
so early in France as with us ; nevertheless part of 
their practice seems worthy of our attention. " The 
plants will soon show themselves, when they must be 
thinned, if growing too thick, putting them, as near 
as possible, two or three inches apart. After having 
let them come to the size of a goose quill, it will be 
necessary, for at least three years, counting that in 
which they are sown, to tend them during the whole 
time in the following manner. At their first appear- 
ance they should be thinned : the second year they 
are to be pruned of all the small branches up to a 
foot from the ground ; from time to time they must 
be watered; they should also be weeded with a 
weeding hook, have frequent tillage ; be retrenched 
of all the superfluous branches, and all that are un- 
thrifty, poor, or grubby must be entirely cut off. The 
best only are to be grafted, after having transplanted 
them to another place, dug about and tilled anew, 
and set at the distance of at least three feet from one 
another."* 

Sowing by the whole fruit. We cannot omit 
to mention that Mr. W. H. Vernon of Rhode Island 
has, through the medium of his translation, published 
at Boston in 182S, of M. de la Brousse's Treatise on 
the Cultivation of the Mulberry Tree, and on the 

* Morin. 



160 THE MULBERRY TREE. 

raising of Silk Worms, favoured us with the follow- 
ing account of the French mode of sowing by the 
whole fruit, or berry, instead of by the dried seed. 
" On two acres of land, or on any other quantity, at 
the will of the proprietor, beds must be made four 
feet ivide, levelled and smoothed with the rake. On 
these beds must be traced by a line eight small fur- 
rows lengthwise, two inches wide, and very little 
more than half an inch deep, and at the distance of 
six inches from one furroiv to another. At this 
moment it is necessary to be provided with mulber- 
ries, (i. e. the fruit,) from the white mulberry tree or 
else from the Spanish, which are the two most proper 
kinds for this purpose ; they must then be dropped 
in the furrows, at the distance of tivelve inches from 
each other, must be covered from the sides of the 
furrows, and the beds carefully levelled with a short 
toothed rake." 

" There are two seasons for making nurseries, the 
spring, and the time of the maturity of the fruit. 
Those who choose to sow the seed of the mulberry 
in the month of April, must consequently use the 
dried seed gathered nine months before, and less apt 
to sprout. But those who soio the fruit at its matu- 
rity, enveloped with all its moisture, (or pulp,) which 
seems intended for its nourishment, and to give it, if 
we may use the expression, its first milk, have gene- 
rally the pleasure of seeing it put forth with vigour. 
Besides the heat of the season, provided the proprietor 
use the precaution to water the plants, will necessarily 
cause their rapid growth." 

Sowing broad-cast. This method is extensively 
and usefully practised in China ; and has also been 
tried with success and profit in New England. 
Though culturists generally prefer the crops of stand- 
ard trees or hedges, and the recent introduction of the 
multicaulis may render this process less necessary, 
yet occasions may exist wherein for special purposes 
it may be expedient. 

On ground previously prepared sow the seed, broad- 



THE MULBERRY TREE. 161 

cast, every spring; and the next year, when the young 
plants are covered with foliage, they may be mowed 
in the same manner that farmers mow small shrubs, 
and given to the worms. These mowings may be 
repeated until the stock becomes exhausted, when the 
land must be seeded again. During one season the 
same seedlings will bear to be mown thrice, and on 
different portions of the ground, the mowing may be 
daily continued according to the demand for the crop, 
except after very dry weather. 

The advantages of this method are, 1. The leaves 
are gathered with little expense or labour. 2. The 
same area of ground will produce more foliage. 
3. The making of silk may thus be commenced on 
the first year. 4. Tenants, as well as owners, from 
year to year, can secure a yearly crop of silk ; and 
the quantity can be increased or diminished as occa- 
sion requires. 

Transplanting. On this subject, authors do not 
precisely agree, and are generally wanting in that 
method which will be found necessary in this place. 
For the sake of distinction, we shall divide this section 
into what refers — 1. To the seed bed ; 2. To the nur- 
sery ; 3. To the hedge ; 4. To the dwarf orchard ; 
5. To the hedge plantation ; and 6. To the plan- 
tation for standards. 

1. By the seed bed we mean that on which not 
only the young seedlings* or plants from seeds, are 
growing, but where they have suffered no transplant- 
ing, nor other disturbance, except that of being kept 
clear from weeds, and of the culture, already de- 
scribed, subsequent to sowing. From the seed bed, 
according to the time and manner hereafter to be 
stated, the seedlings are to be transplanted either to 
the nursery, the hedge, the dwarf orchard, or to the 
plantation for standards, according to the design and 
intention of the culturist. 

* The term seedling will in this work be applied to young trees 
raised from seed, and not transplanted ; and that for any age not ex- 
ceeding three years. 

14* 



162 THE MULBERRY TREE. 

Seedlings are fit for transplanting when they attain 
the height of eighteen inches; and generally on the 
second year, those not removed before, may be trans- 
planted in the nursery. When the seedlings are taken 
up it should be with such care as to prevent injury 
to the roots. After this, it would be an advantage to 
assort them into classes,* planting those nearly of a 
size together. But, if they are thrifty, they may remain 
in the seed bed until planted out into hedges. It is, 
however, indispensable, when the seedlings are in- 
tended for standard trees, to remove them to a nur- 
sery, where they may more rapidly attain a larger 
growth than they would in the seed bed ; and from 
thence they should not be removed to be placed out 
permanently for standards until they are one inch in 
diameter, and from four to eight feet, according to 
the French, or from seven to eight feet high, accord- 
ing to the practice with us. 

2. By the nursery we intend ground purposely 
prepared and reserved for the reception and growth 
of young plants, into which the young seedlings, at 
the proper time, are to be transplanted,! and there to 
remain, at proper distances, during the second period 
of their existence. 

Horticulturists recommend a rich soil for the nur- 
sery ; the ground at least should be previously pre- 
pared, as for any other crop. In April, or later, if 
there be a probability of the return of frost, parallel 
furrows are to be made of sufficient depth, eight feet 
asunder. In which, as soon as possible after remov- 
ing from the seed bed, and taking away the ragged 
roots, as well as shortening the tap root, in order to 
force out lateral roots, the seedlings must be planted, 
one foot apart in the rows. Particular attention must 
be given to preserve all the small branches of the 
roots from contact as much as possible. The earth is 
then to be well trodden around the plant. Afterwards 

* Two classes : Count Hazzi. 

\ In France, they transplant just after the fall of the leaf. 



THE MULBERRY TREE. 163 

keep the soil open, free from weeds, and water in dry 
seasons. 

When the plants in the nursery are sprung, strip 
off the side buds, and leave none but such as are ne- 
cessary to form the head of the tree. The buds which 
are left, should be opposite to one another. If the 
plants in the nursery do not shoot well the first year, 
in the month of March following cut them over, about 
seven inches from the ground 5 this will make them 
grow rapidly. They should also be watered with 
diluted barn-yard water.* 

3. Mulberry hedge. One method of turning into 
direct profit, and economizing the very ground on 
which our fences stand, is to turn them into mulberry 
hedges. "The white mulberry," says Mr. Cobb, 
" forms an excellent live fence, and when once esta- 
blished, is probably the most permanent of any other. 
Cattle must not be allowed free access to the hedge 
while young, as they would destroy it altogether; but 
after it has become a good fence, they may approach 
it with advantage. The more it is broken and lace- 
rated by cattle, the more impenetrable it will become; 
as for every branch broken, a half dozen shoots will 
immediately start out, till the bush forms a perfect 
bramble." This mode is, therefore, recommended as 
accomplishing three important objects : supplying 
food for silk worms ; keeping the trees low, that the 

* Several of the manipulations recommended by Count de Hazzi, on 
this subject, are worthy of attention. " The roots of a plant of one year 
being yet delicate, it will be better to put them in the ground with a 
planting stick, along a line, than with a shovel. They should be planted 
a little deeper than they were before ; for a mould recently stirred sinks 
somewhat, and the seedlings would, therefore, be too high above ground. 
They should be watered as soon as transplanted, in order to bring the 
earth into closer contact with the root. These beds must be managed, 
during the summer, like the seed beds, viz. they must be cleared of 
weeds, and watered in dry weather ; and, before the winter comes on, 
they must be covered again with dry leaves, several inches in depth, 
which are to be removed in the spring. Before the seedlings begin to 
bud, all the wood affected by the frost must be cut off, and the ground 
ought to be carefully opened and stirred, without injuring the roots of the 
seedlings." 



164 THE MULBERRY TREE. 

leaves may be gathered from the ground by children; 
and furnishing a good and almost never ending fence. 

Take seedlings two years old from the seed bed, 
and set them, in the spring, at the distance of eighteen 
inches apart, or, if it is intended to make a thick set 
hedge, at the distance of one foot. Cut off the tops 
at four or six inches from the ground, leaving two 
buds on each plant, opposite each other, and removing 
all the rest. This causes the stock to have two 
vigorous branches the first year. The next spring, 
cut off one of these two branches on the same side, 
at about twelve inches from the ground, in such a 
manner that each plant may have a long and a short 
one. Cut horizontally on the same side, also one after 
another, all the branches, and fasten them with cords 
or withes, so that they form lines parallel with the 
earth, and leave the entire branches untouched. At 
the commencement of the third year, the plants will 
have branches to form a hedge. The height, form, 
&c. of which may be regulated according to the fancy 
of the cultivator, by cutting the branches accordingly, 
and feeding the silk worms with them. 

Some permit trees to grow up from the hedges as 
standards, at the distance of ten or twelve feet from 
each other. Thus rails might be fastened to the 
standards and form alone a good fence, even if, in the 
course of time, the old materials of the hedge should 
have been removed, or fallen into decay. 

4. The dwarf orchard. The dwarf orchard, 
either consists of the dwarf or bush mulberry, so com- 
mon in France ; or of any mulberry species or variety 
kept in hedge size and cultivation. 

As to the divarf orchard and mulberry, we are 
informed by M. de la Brousse, that " the dwarf or 
bush mulberry has been cultivated for ages in the 
East Indies. It is there preferred to the tree with a 
high trunk, because its leaves are more easily gathered, 
the trimming less difficult and less expensive, and the 
sap having a shorter distance to rise, produces earlier 
leaves, and proportionably in greater abundance. 



THE MULBERRY TREE. 165 

The tree with a lofty trunk must have a good soil and 
ample room, whilst the dwarf trees will grow any- 
where, on an arid soil and small space. Extending 
their branches very little, they may be reached on all 
sides. They also yield an early leaf, and full as 
wholesome for the silk worm as that of the high tree. 

The grafted dwarf mulberry of good kinds, such 
as la rose, putting forth as early as the pourette, is a 
valuable resource in a warm climate, where silk 
worms succeed only when they are raised before the 
more vehement heat sets in. 

The field selected for an orchard of the dwarf mul- 
berry ought to be ploughed, and after remaining in 
the furrow about two months, to be manured and 
cross-ploughed, and lastly levelled with a harrow. 
Lines must then be drawn nine feet apart through 
the whole length of the field, and the young trees 
must be planted along those lines at the distance of 
six feet from each other. Frequent tillage, manure 
every year, and watering in dry seasons are requisite 
particularly during the first years of their growth. 
The hoe may be employed, if the plough cannot, since 
their stems are so short as to send forth branches 
within a foot of the soil. 

After the gathering of the leaves in the third year, 
the dwarf mulberry may be trimmed, but not before. 
Then it will be necessary to leave four branches at 
proper distance towards each of the cardinal points, 
in order that they may form, in the three succeeding 
years, the head of the tree. At the end of that term, 
each tree will nearly touch its neighbour, and ought 
every following year to be pruned immediately after 
the gathering of the leaves. This trimming, amongst 
the French, consists in lopping off the branches that 
have yielded leaves during three years, and reserving 
the wood of the preceding and of the current years. 
The height of the trunk of a dwarf being regulated at 
a foot, and its branches spreading, in the second year, 
about two feet and a half in all directions, they would 



166 THE MULBERRY TREE. 

be within the reach of the smallest cattle, which, must 
therefore be carefully excluded. 

But the dwarf orchard may consist of any of the 
varieties of the black, red, or white mulberry, pro- 
vided that they are kept in dwarf cultivation. This 
method is well adapted for this country, and recom- 
mended because, 1. The trees thus arrive to a state 
of productiveness with comparatively little expense 
of time and labour. 2. Sufficient sun and air are ad- 
mitted to the trees to render the leaves of the first 
quality, and to enable them to put forth early. 3. The 
ground is more suddenly and completely filled and 
occupied than by planting standards. 4. The trees 
are more easily managed, and their form controlled. 
5. The leaves are more easily gathered, and very 
readily by women and children.* 

It has been recommended to have the rows of the 
dwarf orchard sufficiently distant to allow a horse and 
cart to pass between, to convey, during the gathering, 
the leaves with the greater expedition to the cocoon- 
ery. Mr. Roberts objects to this, because the pressure 
of the horse and cart on the intervening space might 
be such as to injure the vegetation of the trees. To 
avoid which he recommends that the leaves should 
be gathered into large baskets, and conveyed to a 
cart conveniently situated ; or rather, that light hand 
carts propelled by men should be substituted. 

Over ground duly prepared, as before directed, extend 
parallel lines, in number sufficient to cover the whole 
breadth, eight feet asunder. Along these lines, whilst 
kept straight, at the distance of two feet apart, dig 
cavities for the reception of the plants, into which 
cast some good rich mould; where the seedlings of 
two years old are to be transplanted, and the earth 

* In India and Persia, the dwarf orchards are not, for the above rea- 
sons, suffered to rise above eight feet. At Broossa, in Turkey, they are 
planted within three feet of each other in rows not exceeding ten feet 
asunder ; and always so pruned that a man standing on the ground may 
reach the top. 



THE MULBERRY TREE. 167 

immediately pressed around them. The young trees 
are to be headed to about a foot from the ground, 
and but two or three branches allowed to grow. 
These, by pruning, are made to diverge, continually 
sub-dividing in every direction above the horizontal, 
so that every part of the tree be duly filled with 
young wood and leaves. Suffer no vertical shoot to 
rise in the centre, and curtail all straggling shoots 
near the top, and all pendulous shoots below. The 
tree is not to be suffered to spread wider than about 
two feet, towards the wide or middle space, and the 
rows must ever be preserved within four and a half 
feet in width and about ten feet in height. The 
ground in this way, may be cultivated with other 
various productions, especially during the first years. 
Indeed, it has been recommended by some, to give 
to the ground applied to dwarf orchards or hedge 
plantations, the benefit of meliorating crops, because 
the soil, according to this opinion, becomes improved, 
and the intervening crops defray all expenses in the 
culture of the mulberry.* 

* On this subject, we cannot quote a better authority than that of 
Mr. Goodrich, president of the Hartford County Silk Society. " I ad- 
vise you to set the rows of mulberry trees at the distance of eight feet. 
This will allow sufficient space to plough between the rows with a yoke 
of oxen, or to pass between them, with a one horse wagon, when the 
trees are considerably grown. 

" I would transplant the trees when they are one or two years old, 
and set them in the rows originally at the distance of two feet. They 
will grow for two or three years within two feet of each other. You 
will then have more than 2700 trees on an acre. 

" It is important that the young plants should be hoed and cultivated 
for a few years, with as much care, as is usually bestowed on carrots or 
onions ; and, in order to do this with as little expense as possible, po- 
tatoes, beans, or ruta baga, may be planted between the rows. And 
when the potatoes are hoed, all the weeds around the mulberry trees must 
be carefully destroyed. 

"When the trees are three or four years old, and have begun to spread 
and fill the ground, I would thin them out, by digging up and trans- 
planting every other tree. Experience will enable ycm to decide at 
what time this is proper to be done. 

" I ought to have added above, that potatoes should be between the 
rows, well manured ; so that the whole ground may be rich like a 
garden. 



168 THE MULBERRY TREE. 

There are some who, both for the purpose of stir- 
ring the soil and keeping it light, between the rows 
of the young trees, as well as that of defraying, during 
the first years, the expense of planting and trimming 

" I observed the last year, that the young mulberry trees grew as well 
where potatoes were planted between the rows, as where they were 
omitted. 

" I would begin to prune the young trees the first year, and continue 
it every year. Observing to cut off all sprouts which grow near the 
ground ; no leaves ought to be suffered to grow nearer than two or three 
feet to the ground. The earlier you begin to prune, the easier it will be 
to form good trees, and the more rapidly they will grow. 

" The second year I would begin to make silk of the twigs which are 
trimmed off. If the trees have been properly cultivated from the begin- 
ning, I think you may make silk enough the second year, to pay all the 
expense of making the silk and of cultivating the trees that year. The 
principal object, however, ought to be, not to make silk the second year, 
but to cultivate the trees in the most judicious manner. I would, there- 
fore, advise, that for the two or three first years, the trees should be 
trimmed, and the leaves gathered, only by persons who know how to 
trim the trees properly. 

" When the trees are four or five years old, at which time they will 
be six or eight feet high, I propose to gather leaves for the worms, by 
cutting off twigs or small branches, which may be done by a person 
standing on the ground, still observing to trim the trees in such a man- 
ner as will best promote their growth. At Mansfield, in this state, the 
leaves have usually been stripped with the hand from the branches, and 
the person who gathers them is obliged to climb trees thirty or forty feet 
high. I propose to save this labour, in a great measure, by trimming 
and heading down the trees from year to year, so that they shall not 
grow more than six or eight feet high, and in such a manner that the 
leaves may always be gathered by a person standing on the ground. In 
this manner, leaves are gathered in Persia and in the vicinity of Con- 
stantinople. 

" The leaves, or rather branches, are to be conveyed to the cocoonery, 
in one horse wagons, and you will now see the propriety of leaving the 
rows sufficiently apart for wagons to pass between them. I propose 
also to gather the leaves or branches in large baskets of a proper shape, 
adapted to the wagons. I suppose that one man with a wagon, will 
carry these baskets of leaves to the cocoonery as fast as a number can 
fill them. 

" I found the last year, that leaves which grew near the ground were 
covered with sand or dirt, thrown upon them during showers of rain ; 
and it was necessary to clean them thoroughly, before they were given 
to the worms. The labour of doing this was about equal to that of 
gathering the leaves. This suggested the propriety of trimming up the 
young plant from the beginning, so that no leaves should grow near the 
ground. 

" I omitted to mention that the potatoes which may be grown the first 



THE MULBERRY TREE. 169 

the orchard, before it is directly productive, recom- 
mend the culture, as will be seen by the subjoined 
note of intermediate crops. It is, however, proper to 
state here the opposite opinion. We add that ex- 
pressed by M. de la Brousse, since it comprises much 
under the head of subsequent culture. After re- 
commending as to standard trees, between rows, two 
dressings of manure, a year, he says, " It is almost 
an unpardonable sin to sow or plant a piece of land 
covered with the mulberry of high growth ; but it 
would be an act still more inexcusable to sow with 
grain, or with that of any other produce, an orchard 
of these useful trees newly set. Though the ground 
be not wholly covered, and but partially shaded with 
these small trees, yet any grain, roots, or grass, would 
exhaust the soil, retard the activity of the sap, and 
obstruct the expansion of every part of the tree. 
Nemo duobus* is a maxim so true in agriculture, that 
every proprietor, who has attempted to take at the 
same time two full crops from the same land, has 
unwisely exhausted the soil, and finally diminished 
his income. By manuring well our fields, and re- 
quiring but one crop at a time, we shall make better 
harvests, and receive a better rent." Mr. Vernon, 
the translator, adds, " the whole of this ought to at- 
tract the notice of the farmers of our own country. 
For it is the general usage with them, to take a crop 
of grain, of roots, or of grass from their orchards. 
This custom, so inconsistent with sound reason, added 
to their careless treatment of the trees, is the cause 
of that infertility of which we hear them so often 
complain ; and it also very materially affects the 



year, between rows of seedlings, will, as I think, pay for settting out 
and cultivating the plants that year. When the mulberry trees have 
grown to a considerable size, and the roots have rilled the ground, it 
may, perhaps, be advisable to discontinue planting potatoes between 
the rows, as the roots of the trees would be impaired by ploughing the 
land." 

* M. de la Brousse means, of course, " No soil for two crops," whether 
nemo be classically applicable to any thing inanimate or not. 

15 



170 THE MULBERRY TREE. 

quality of the leaves and fruit. At Montreuil, a vil- 
lage of nearly 20,000 inhabitants, all maintained by 
the cultivation of fruit for the supply of the city of 
Paris, a proprietor will not allow even a plant of let- 
tuce to be grown near fruit trees. Every particle of 
the surface of the ground is there kept in a friable 
state to the full extent of the roots of the trees; a due 
proportion of manure is every year worked into the 
soil, the art of trimming is there perfectly understood 
and practised ; and there we never hear the barbarous 
assertion that the apple tree bears well only once in 
two or three years." 

5. The making of hedge plantations is now also 
recommended. It consists of a piece of ground, not 
only fenced in, but its whole interior planted with 
mulberries in regular rows at certain distances kept 
in hedge culture. A plan which will be found con- 
venient during the leaf-gathering season ; especially 
for children. 

It was formerly the practice in France to plant out 
the mulberry as standards, and to suffer them to 
attain a considerable size, for which gathering lad- 
ders and additional labour were indispensable. The 
practice is of late much changed. It was observed, 
says Rozier, that the young plants in nurseries, put 
forth their leaves much sooner than the standard trees ; 
and the necessity of obtaining early food for the young 
insects obliged the cultivators to provide themselves 
with a certain number of mulberries in the bush, 
shrubby, or hedge state. 

From these first experiments arose the prevalent 
practice of raising dwarf mulberries extensively, and 
also of surrounding the fields with mulberry hedges. 
It is said that the produce of an acre in dwarf mul- 
berries is much greater than one in large trees, the 
distance between the plants being so much less, so 
that the number of dwarfs may be eight times as 
great. This is admitted to be true at first, though some 
cultivators deny that it continues to be so after the 
standard trees have attained their full size. But 



THE MULBERRY TREE. 171 

whether the increase of the foliage of the full grown 
standards is such over that of eight times the number 
of dwarfs, as to countervail the additional expense in 
the gathering of the former, is a question, that expe- 
riment, fairly conducted, alone can decide. 

In India, in China, in Turkey, and, at present, in 
France, hedge or dwarf plantations are most highly 
approved ; and the system is gaining ground also in 
Italy and Belgium. M. Bonafoux, the celebrated 
writer on silk, and the disciple of that "faciZS Prin- 
ceps" of silk worms, Count Dandolo, and the director 
of the Royal Gardens of Turin, highly recommends this 
mode, of cultivating in mulberry prairies, as in China. 

Dr. Tinelli* says, " this method is now generally 
adopted in Italy. 1. Because the produce of the little 
mulberry is much earlier than that of the large one ; 
for in the third year they begin to gather the leaves 
from hedge rows, while six years are required before 
we can strip the large trees. 2. Because the low 
trees, being more immediately affected by the warmth 
of the soil, begin to put forth their leaves fifteen days 
earlier than the larger ones, which is certainly a 
great advantage. 3. The care of low trees and the 
gathering of the leaves are left to children, which is 
a considerable saving of expense. The trees of low 
size, planted in hedge rows, occupy the least possible 
space, while at the same time they supply a crop as 
perfect as those of a greater height, and their leaves, 
extremely agreeable to the worms, furnish a silk of 
the first quality." 

Of hedge plantations, there are two plans. The 
first plan we have thus well described by Seignor 
Tinelli : " For the purpose of making plantations of 
this kind, young trees of orie year's growth are used. 
The hedges are planted in lines, extending the whole 
length of the field, and the lines (or rows) separated 
from each other by a space of six feet.f Each tree 

* Doctor of Civil Law of the University of Pavia. 
f " Eight feet." Silk Oil. vol. ii. p. 181, col. 1, giving 2000 trees to 
the acre. 



172 THE MULBERRY TREE. 

is planted at the distance of three feet from the next 
in the same row. So that in the space of an acre, 
or 43,560 square feet, ice shall have 2420 of these 
trees. They will yield, in their third year, about 
2 lbs. of leaves each; (or 4840 lbs. for the acre;) and 
this quantity will be doubled annually, till the eighth 
year, provided they are cultivated, attended to, and 
managed as required." 

The above statement of Seignor Tinelli leads to the 
following statistical consequence; the trees on one 
acre for the 

3d year yield. . . . 4,840 lbs. of leaves. 
4th year yield. . . . 9,680 lbs. of leaves. 
5th year yield. . . . 19,360 lbs. of leaves. 

6th year yield 38,720 lbs. of leaves. 

7th year yield. . . . 77,440 lbs. of leaves. 
8th year yield. . . .154,880 lbs. of leaves ! 

Which in this case, on the eighth year, would be 
equal to* 1548 lbs. of silk, worth $7740.t 

Although the young trees when planted, are fur- 
nished with very small roots, yet it is necessary to 
dig the trench made to receive them of considerable 
depth. It is usual to make it one foot and a half 
deep, and of the same breadth. When the little trees 

* 100 lbs. of leaves of the white mulberry are reckoned to be equal to 
one pound of raw silk, now worth at least five dollars. 

j- The above statement of Dr. Tinelli we have given, merely to show 
how extravagantly great men — men who are looked up to as great au- 
thority, will wander into the regions of fancy when they are supposed 
to be furnishing facts. It must be obvious to all that the quotation 
above, and the subsequent statement legitimately drawn from it, are 
erroneous. But much of what is written on this subject, is not any 
thing more accurate ; and if we advert to the widely divergent state- 
ments made by authors in our own country, upon the culture and pro- 
duce of the mulberry tree, we need not be surprised that such things 
come from abroad. One tells us, that the mulberry tree should be 
planted on high, another on low, ground ; one on a south, another on a 
north exposure ; this one on stony, gravelly soil, that on sandy loam ; 
the next on any soil that will produce vegetation, the opposite excludes 
us from almost any soil that can be procured. These unsettled and 
uncertain opinions remind us of the Scripture phrase, " If the trumpet 
give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself for the battle?" 
In these pages we shall present a better view of these subjects, with 
more certain data. 



THE MULBERRY TREE. 173 

are set in the ground, the stems are cut so as to leave 
only three eyes above the ground. 

The second plan of the hedge plantation, and 
also its cultivation, is best described by Mr. Roberts. 
" At two years old, the plants may be planted out 
into hedges, at eighteen inches apart, in rows eight 
feet asunder. The ground should be prepared as 
before directed, and some good rich mould put into 
the holes, to be afterwards pressed around the plants. 
Take care that the two lowest buds be in the direction 
of the (gardening) line ; which should be drawn 
straight. The plant is to be cut down to these two 
buds, about half a foot from the ground. By the 
ensuing spring these buds will have become two 
beautiful branches, when one of them is to be pruned 
down to one foot, and always on one side of the 
plant. The branches on the opposite side to be left 
uncut, but to be bent in the direction of the hedge 
towards the lopped branches, and fastened to them 
with willow withs so as to form an arch. The third 
spring the plants will have branches to form a hedge, 
when they must be cut about two feet from the 
ground, leaving the branches below that point entire. 
When plants die, replace them by layers from an 
adjoining one, as the introduction of new plants hardly 
ever succeeds. The hedges should never be permitted 
to grow higher than six feet, so as to keep them within 
a convenient height for gathering the leaves. After 
the leaves have been gathered, they should be pruned, 
and particularly of such branches as may have been 
injured or killed. AH dead branches, also, thus found 
in the beginning of April, must be pruned from the 
living wood, with sharp hedge shears, and these 
primings should be so regulated as to give a proper 
form to the hedge." 

The planting of morus alba in the hedge form, will be 
found to be the most advantageous. The same quan- 
tity of land will thus produce at least eighty per cent, 
more leaves, than from standard trees ; the labour of 
gathering leaves is full one half less, and the vegeta- 
15* 



174 THE MULBERRY TREE. 

tion is much quicker. These certainly are consider- 
ations worthy of attention. A few standard trees, or 
& plantation of standards, should be kept on every 
estate, and particularly where situated in the interior, 
for the purpose of keeping up regular supplies of 
seed, and of making that of leaves doubly secure. 

6. Plantation for standards is a piece of 
ground, on which, at proper distances, mulberry trees, 
designed to arrive at, or that have attained to, full 
growth, are planted. 

The distances generally recommended for this pur- 
pose are tiventy feet between the rows, and twenty 
feet asunder, i. e. twenty feet every ivay. But here 
the quincunx order would probably be an improve- 
ment. That is, the rows twenty feet asunder as be- 
fore, and the trees in each row, twenty feet distant 
from each other, but each tree of every alternate row 
placed opposite the centre or middle point of the 
nearest two trees of the opposite row ; so that each 
tree of one row forms an isosceles triangle with the 
two nearest trees of the next row. An advantage is 
thus gained in every case, where between two op- 
posite trees only twenty feet would intervene, of two 
feet and one-third, both for the extension of branches, 
and the freer admission of both sun and air. 

Let then this piece of ground intended for such a 
plantation be first described into lines or parallel 
rows, twenty feet asunder, on each of which rows 
dig cavities twenty feet, also between one and the 
other on the same row. But let the first cavity on 
the second row be dug precisely opposite to the centre 
point between the nearest two on the opposite row ; 
and thus continue for every other cavity and every 
other row ; and we shall then have a plantation of the 
quincunx order. This quincuncial order derives its 
name from the numeral V, which is called the single 
quincunx; and the numeral X, which was termed 
the double quincunx. Of all arrangements, the quin- 
cunx order combines the most advantages. More 
trees may thus be set at any distance apart on the 



THE MULBERRY TREE, 175 

same area than in any other mode. Each tree will 
have the same proximity to its neighbours on the 
same row, but all will enjoy superior facilities for the 
admission of air, heat, and light. 

The land where the trees are to be set, will be 
much better for the purpose, if previously ploughed, 
harrowed, and manured on the preceding autumn. 
It will be proper to transplant only handsome, well- 
selected subjects, and which are not getting too old 
in the nursery, crooked, knotty, or mean looking. It 
would be desirable to ascertain the position of the 
plant when in the nursery in reference to the south, 
which may be easily discovered, even when sent from 
a distance, by the magnitude and number of its roots, 
which are generally larger and more numerous on 
the south side of the tree, as well as by the size and 
distance of the rings which form at the forks of the 
branches. Directed by these signs the tree may have 
the same side turned towards the south, which it had 
before its removal, by turning in that direction the 
largest roots and circles. 

The transplanting may take place either in spring, 
as soon as the frost is out of the ground, or in autumn 
at the fall of the leaf. Not a few prefer the former 
season. Mr. Gideon Smith of Baltimore, whose judg- 
ment unquestionably ranks high, gives the preference 
to the latter, in order to let " the small fibrous roots 
which convey nourishment to the tree, have time to 
prepare for their functions by the vegetating season 
of the next spring."* 

When the plants are grown to the size of onet inch 

* From an authority so respectable as Mr. Smith, however, we must 
beg leave to dissent. In the south where there is comparatively no 
winter, or at least a mild one, his system will answer very well, perhaps 
be the better plan ; but in the eastern and middle states, where the win- 
ters are severe, the method of fall planting, recommended above, would 
be exceedingly questionable. The gain would not be so great as to put 
to hazard so great a stake where the seasons are so rigid, and the spring 
planting, in this climate, is, we think, greatly to be preferred. 

•j- The French practice directs, six inches in circumference at the 



176 THE MULBERRY TREE. 

in diameter, and from seven to eight feet high, they 
are fit to be planted out into the field where they are 
finally to remain. Let them be dug up without injury 
to the roots, and, whenever practicable, transplant 
immediately, or soon as possible, after removal from 
the ground, without cutting off any thing.* When- 
ever the planting cannot be immediately effected, the 
roots must be surrounded with straw wrapped around 
them. 

Let each cavity for the reception of the trees, at 
the distances already stated, be made eighteen inches 
deep, and Jive feet in diameter and its lower part 
covered with a few inches of fresh mould. The 
young tree is placed in its proper range, ascertained 
by a stake fixed at each extremity of the line, and it 
is to be held there till its roots are covered with friable 
and well manured earth free from stones, which must 
then be well trodden down, and watered if necessary.t 
A small furrow left round the stem to retain the rain 
is very proper. 

Leave all the buds which the young trees have 
pushed out on the top, till the following spring; when 
none are to be left, but three or four branches to form 
the head of the tree. These should be so left as to 
form a circle round the stem. That the interior of 
the tree may be kept open, all buds as they appear 
on its body should be pinched off for a few years. 
The head of the tree also, for several years, should 
be thinned out, cutting off such branches as cross 



bottom of the trunk, and from six to nine feet in height. Others say, 
the plant ought not to be more than three years old when taken from a 
rich soil, or four years old, if removed from poor land. 

* Except what is bruised or broken just above the defect. Yet some 
say the roots should be trimmed. 

j- The practice in France, with some, is, in order to give immediate 
activity to the sap, as well as to make the earth on all sides closely ad- 
here to the roots, to pour six or eight gallons of water into the cavity, 
which is then filled with earth to the surface. But the season, wet or 
dry, and the proprietor's experience and discretion will vary this accord- 
ing to circumstances. 



THE MULBERRY TREE. 177 

others, or take the lead of the rest : equality in growth 
and beauty in appearance will be thus preserved. 
Every spring, the young trees should be dressed two 
or three feet around the trunk ; and stakes also should 
be placed by each, and fastened to it at the time of 
planting, to prevent its position being altered by 
strong winds. 

When the trees shall have nearly attained their 
growth, two top dressings of manure a year will pre- 
serve them in an improved condition. The first may 
be given in the month of March, or the time of the 
first rising of the sap ; when after hoeing, they ought 
to be treated with a proper quantity of manure. The 
second tillage must be given immediately after gather- 
ing the leaves, in order to promote the August growth, 
on which the produce of the following year so much 
depends. 

Grafting and budding are methods of culture 
long practised, especially in Europe, and supposed to 
improve the several species and varieties of the mul- 
berry. The only reasons assigned by a recent writer 
to warrant the neglect here of these methods, is be- 
cause with us, land is cheap and labour high. More 
weighty and decisive reasons, however, than these 
exist; and we shall find them most strongly expressed 
by authors, who are themselves natives of the coun- 
tries where these methods have been the longest tried, 
and through the current of imitative custom, not in- 
vestigation, have been the most popular. Count 
Dandolo says, " fourteen pounds and a half of wild* 
mulberry leaves will produce one and a half pounds 
of cocoons; whilst it requires twenty pounds and three- 
fourths of the leaves of the grafted mulberry to yield 
the same quantity." Again, " Seven and a half 
pounds of cocoons proceeding from worms fed on the 
leaves of the wild mulberry, give about fourteen 
ounces of exceedingly fine silk; whilst the same 

* I. e. not grafted. 






178 THE MULBERRY TREE. 

weight of silk worms fed with the leaves of the 
grafted mulberry only yields eleven or twelve ounces 
of silk : that the silk worms fed on the wild leaves 
are always brisker, and have better appetites." M. 
Morin informs us, that " the mulberry trees not 
grafted, last for ages,* whilst the grafted after twen- 
ty-five years fall into decay." No other additional 
reason needs be assigned for the entire abolition, in 
this country at least, of grafting, budding, and in- 
oculating, of such vivacious and even indigenous 
trees as mulberries, than that the superiority of the 
multicaulis, for which no such process is necessary, 
is now so far decided, as to render attention to the 
engrafted and artificial varieties, so far quite unne- 
cessary, that a page or pages occupied with the de- 
tail of these tedious and laboured manipulations, 
would be at once a misapplication both of our limits 
and of the reader's time and attention. 

Pruning. Trees left to themselves are liable to 
assume forms as unsuitable to the taste of the horti- 
culturist, as they are inconvenient to those engaged 
in the gathering of their leaves. June is the best 
season for pruning, when the young twigs that are 
taken off may be, with advantage, given to the 
worms. But after what has been already said on 
this subject, it is -here only necessary to add, that the 
imperfections in the form and growth of trees, may 
easily be remedied by a judicious cultivator, at least 
once every two or three years. 

Suckers. Trees may also be obtained from suck- 
ers. These, each with some roots attached to them, 
may be separated from the tree early in the spring, 
planted in the nursery or orchard, two feet apart, 
where they may remain until their size intimates the 
propriety of transplanting. They must be treated as 

* The black mulberry tree adjoining Greenwich Park, planted in the 
reign of James the L, now covers a circumference of 150 feet, and yields 
during the season eighty quarts per day of the finest mulberries in 
England. 



THE MULBERRY TREE. 179 

seedlings or cuttings ; watered in dry weather and 
kept clear of weeds. Though the white mulberry 
admits of this variety in its mode of propagation, yet 
no method, as yet, has been found preferable to that 
of reproducing it from its own seed or fruit. The 
modes of reproduction from cuttings and layers, alike 
applicable to both the species and varieties of the 
mulberry, are so particularly suitable to the hybrids, 
and especially to the multicaulis, that we defer what 
is necessary to observe on these subjects to the next 
chapter. 

In the complete silk establishment, the nursery, 
orchard, and plantation, will require their instru- 
ments ; as well as the cocoonery its furniture and 
utensils ; and the manufacture, its machinery. In 
the former we should be supplied with the weeding 
hook, pruning chisels, and shears adapted to different 
parts of this work, and suited to different altitudes. 
For the plantation for full grown standards there 
should not be omitted a pair of pruning shears at- 
tached by one of the handles to a ten foot pole, which 
whilst it is held in one hand, is worked by means of 
a cord passing through a pulley, and attached to the 
other handle by the other hand. By this means twigs 
and branches, though at the height of seventeen or 
eighteen feet are taken off with ease, and that so 
smoothly as neither to lacerate the bark nor injure 
the appearance of the tree. Hoes also will be neces- 
sary, particularly one adapted to the mulberry orchard 
culture and described by Messrs. Cheney in the early 
numbers of the Silk Grower. In very dry seasons, 
the proximity of a pond, or one in the midst of the 
plantation, with a forcing pump and hose to send the 
water to every part, will be of great advantage. 

On the following cut will be found a representation 
of the M. alba, M. tartarica, and M. nigra. The M. 
alba on the right, the M. tartarica in the centre, and 
the M. nigra on the left. They exhibit the leaves 
and fruit drawn from nature. It has not been thought 
necessary to give a representation of the other species 



180 THE MULBERRY TREE. 

under this head, as they are different only in size and 
in few peculiarities of the leaves which have been 
previously described. 







CHAPTER III. 



THE MORUS MULTICAULIS. 



It is now universally known amongst all expe- 
rienced culturists, that the morus multicaulis is a 
hybrid ; and as the most judicious and discerning 
amongst them think, that it is a variety produced 
from the morus alba and morus nigra ; and there- 
fore whilst it yields silk having all the delicacy of the 
proceed of the former, combines the strength, with- 
out the comparative coarseness of that of the latter ; 
and consequently is in itself the complete " utili 
duke" of the mulberry tribe. It is to the national- 
stirring industry, and wealth-giving properties of this 
tree, that the disciples of Confucius attribute the 
prosperity and solidity of an empire that knows no 
parallel on the face of this earth. It came here 
recently as a stranger, and had its" own character to 
substantiate ; but with it, as with every thing of 
intrinsic excellence, this was soon and easily effected. 
In its favour, the verdict of the well known culturist, 



THE MORUS MULTICAULIS. 181 

Gideon B. Smith, of Baltimore, has been quoted. 
"Whoever," says he, "is desirous of entering into 
the silk culture, must now abandon every idea of culti- 
vating any other kind than this ; as from its superior 
fitness, in every respect, to the feeding of the worms, 
it would be impossible that any one growing any 
other could compete with those who fed with it. 
That as there is no offal from coarse fibres, fully one 
third of the labour of gathering will be saved. That 
the leaves of the multicaulis yield a finer silk, more 
delicate in texture, and brilliant in gloss than any 
other kind." But now, independently of all private 
opinion, however eminent, by experiment and matter 
of fact, a thousand times repeated, whether they 
refer to the possibility of its acclimation in our Chi- 
nese-parallel climes, its fitness for the worms, the 
immense saving of labour which it affords, or to the 
superior quality of its produce, its fame is known 
and acknowledged, without a dissentient voice, from 
Maine to Louisiana, and from the Atlantic to the 
Western shores of the Mississippi. 

As an object of public attention, it is now one of 
such intense interest, that inverted must be the tele- 
scope of the man that has not the prescience to discern 
that a new and a great era is now about to open in 
this country. What will be the ultimate benefits, it is 
now impossible to calculate. If the first advantage 
accrue to an individual, it extends to his neighbour and 
thence to a third, and thus on in the great catena of 
society, from link to link, till the individual blesses 
the nation, and by reciprocity the nation the indivi- 
dual, until national prosperity and individual con- 
tentment merge party and comparatively petty dif- 
ferences into an equanimity, that may leave China 
herself dispossessed of the singularity, in this respect, 
of which she at present boasts. As such it would be 
almost unpardonable, in a work of this nature, not 
to give, even as a tribute of gratitude, the history of 
a tree, to which we are all likely to become so much 
indebted. 

16 



182 THE MORUS MULTICAULIS. 

The first complete history and account of this 
plant appeared in the " Annales d'Horticulture," and 
the " Annales Royal Horticule de Fromont ;" and 
were afterwards collected and inserted by the Hon. 
H. Dearborn in the "New England Farmer" of 
1830 and 1831. From which it appears that the 
honour of the discovery of this plant, and its intro- 
duction to Europe, to Africa, and to America, is due 
to M. S. Perrottet, agricultural botanist and traveller 
of the marine and colonies of France. This distin- 
guished botanist was sent out by the government of 
France on a voyage of research to the seas of Asia, 
a national ship having been provided especially for 
his use. After an absence of nearly three years he 
returned to Havre in 1821. He brought with him 
eighty-four boxes of various dimensions, containing 
one hundred and fifty-eight species of living plants, 
of at least eight feet in height, to the quantity of 
five hundred and thirty-four individuals. All 
these productions had been procured on the coasts 
of Asia, or gathered in the lands of Cayenne. From 
the commencement of the present century there had 
never been so vast an importation into France, or 
one so extensive in number, and at the same time 
each so remarkable for rare genera, species and va- 
rieties. In this immense collection was the morus 
multicaulis, thus called by Perrottet for the first 
time, and ascertained by him to be the real Chinese 
mulberry ; or as sometimes improperly called the 
morus alba sinensis. 

It was in descending the river which traverses the 
city of Manilla, the capital of the Philippine islands, 
and on its banks, and in the garden of a Chinese 
cultivator, that M. Perrottet saw, for the first time, 
the multicaulis. It was there that he first found it 
growing with a vast variety of other precious plants, 
which had there been collected from India, from 
Ceylon, from Sumatra and from China. 

The multicaulis appears from the statements of M. 
Perrottet to have originated in the elevated regions 



THE MORUS MULTICAULIS. 183 

of China, and from thence to have been disseminated 
over all the plains near the sea shore. It was intro- 
duced into Manilla, and into all the islands in the 
Asiatic Archipelago, from Canton. 

The morus multicaulis has had already many- 
names assigned to it. It has been called morus ma- 
nilla, from Manilla, where first discovered, which is 
the capital of the Philippine Islands, hence also its 
second name morus philippina ; from the hooded 
convex, or bowled form of the leaves, it has been 
also termed the morus cucullata ; from the name of 
its first European discoverer the Perrottet mulberry ; 
but Perrottet himself called it the multicaulis, many 
stalked, or mulberry with many stems ; and by way 
of eminence the Chinese mulberry. To the name 
morus nigra sinensis there is no objection except 
that in it there is no word to express that it is a mere 
hybrid or variety ; but to the name morus alba si- 
nensis, which we find has been ascribed to it, we do 
object, since its fruit is black and not white. Many 
names for the same thing are generally productive 
of confusion. This has been verified ; since there 
are not wanting several who, from these diverse 
names, have supposed the existence of so many 
different hybrids, or even of so many distinct species. 
Had the just conviction of M. Poiteau been originally 
adopted, who observed that " public gratitude and 
justice require that the name of the zealous traveller 
should be affixed to the valuable plant, which has 
given him celebrity, and he has given to Europe, to 
Africa, and to America," the ambiguity would have 
been avoided in a way whose propriety none would 
have questioned. 

From Manilla, the multicaulis was first introduced 
by M. Perrottet to the Isle of Bourbon, and from 
thence into Cayenne, and afterwards to France, 
where, at first, its culture was confined to the Royal 
Gardens. At a later period, it was sent from Cayenne 
to Martinique, and from France to Guadaloupe, and 
also to Senegal. The numerous plants now dissemi- 



184 THE MORUS MULTICAULIS. 

nated through the diverse climes of Europe, Africa 
and America, are all the proceed of the two indi- 
vidual plants brought by M. Perrottet from Manilla. 

M. Poiteau, M. Eyries of Havre, and Chevalier 
Bodin of Paris, have informed us that this plant has 
braved all the winters since its introduction, and 
prospered in all climates in France. M. Bonafoux, 
the director of the Royal Gardens at Turin, and the 
celebrated writer on silk, has also fully attested its 
decided superiority in Italy, where he has found that, 
by close planting and low pruning, whole fields may 
be suddenly covered with a mass of the most luxu- 
riant foliage. M. Dupont of Chiron, near Chamberry 
in France, also found that, as the silk worms fed on 
this mulberry make less waste of litter and of food, so 
the chances of disease are diminished from this cause, 
and they finish their labours in less time, producing 
silk of a more brilliant lustre. He also found that 
the saving of labour, in gathering the food, is so great 
that ten quintals of the leaves of the multicaulis are 
gathered in the same time which is requisite to 
gather two quintals of the leaves of the common 
white mulberry. By the most perfect rules of prun- 
ing, he makes this mulberry assume the form of a 
quenouille, or vast distaff, fifteen feet high : the form 
to be always preserved. 

Dr. Deslongchamps, in his experiments at Paris, 
had found that the cocoons produced by the worms 
fed exclusively on the Chinese mulberry, were even 
heavier than other cocoons. And in the report, on 
this shrub, to the Academy of Dijon by M. Tilloy, in 
1834, we learn that it appeared by accurate experi- 
ments that the cocoons produced from this variety 
being rather heavier, the fibre was consequently 
stronger ; and it was remarked in winding 384 
cocoons that not a thread was broken. 

Near Montgeron in the north of France, the French 
have established an experimental silk farm under the 
direction of M. Camille Beauvais. And the extraor- 
dinary experiments, which are there in progress, were 



THE MORFS MULTICATJLIS. 185 

published in 1835. Already had he succeeded in 
producing thirteen pounds of silk from the same 
number of silk worms, which in France usually pro- 
duced but five pounds, in Italy seven pounds and 
a half, and in India twenty pounds. And even in his 
climate, M. Beauvais expects soon to be able to pro- 
duce, with the aid of the multicaulis, an equal num- 
ber of pounds from the same quantity of silk worms 
as the old practitioners of 4000 years. 

In Tuscany, so fine is their climate, that two suc- 
cessive crops of silk are annually produced from the 
common mulberry ; and Dr. Deslongchamps has 
proved that, by the aid of the Chinese mulberry, 
two crops of silk may be annually produced even in 
the north of France. And, in this country, the cele- 
brated prediction of Dr. Pascalis that, " after the 
discovery of this plant, a doubt no longer existed 
that two crops of silk may be produced in a single 
season" has been repeatedly verified. 

Every thing relative to the history of the multi- 
caulis in this country that is necessary on our part to 
give, is combined with other important matter in the 
following extract from the correspondence of one on 
whose testimony and opinion we can rely. " I was 
the first person south of New York, who had the 
morus multicaulis. It was sent to me by Wm. Prince 
and Sons, in 1S28,* in a collection of seven other va- 
rieties of mulberry. It was not then known by the 
present name, but it was called the Philippine mul- 
berry. About a year after I received it, accounts 
arrived from France of the receipt there of the 
multicaulis, and of its great value for feeding silk 
worms. On examining my trees, I at once found 
that my Philippine mulberry was the multicaulis, and 
immediately commenced feeding my silk worms with 
it, and from experiment ascertained the truth of all 

* From this we may suppose that Messrs. Prince & Sons possessed 
the first multicaulis tree in North America; probably in 1827. Mr. 
Kenrick dates the time of its first introduction into New England in 
1831. 

16* 



186 THE MORUS MULTICAULIS. 

the French had said about it. From that time to 
this, I have continued to urge upon all, the propriety 
of cultivating this in preference to the white mul- 
berry. Its advantages are, 1. It is full as hardy 
as the white : 2. One pound of its leaves contain 
as much nutritive matter as a pound and a half of 
the white: 3. The silk made from it is of a finer tex- 
ture and more lustrous : 4. Its leaves are so large 
that a pound can be gathered at half the expense 
and trouble that a pound of white mulberry leaves 
require : 5. It can be cultivated with infinitely 
more despatch than any other kind. These are all 
great advantages. In relation to the hardiness of the 
multicaulis, I observe that I have cultivated it for 
seven years ; never protected it in any manner what- 
ever, and never lost a tree. I have seen the young 
unripened wood of all varieties destroyed by the 
winter, and was very early led to adopt measures to 
guard against it, and now I never lose a bud."* 

The morus multicaulis grows vigorous, upright, and 
beautiful ; the leaves are large, soft, and tender, pe- 
tiolate, cordate, acuminate, serrated towards the sum- 
mit, marked with nerves, always entire ; their upper 
surface is convex, bowled or curved ; of a deep and 
beautifully shining green. The form and dimensions 
of the leaf vary in different soils. In a dry and arid 
soil, their size is less, their form elliptical and without 
the heart-shaped indentation at the base; their breadth 
in this case being six inches, and their length eight ; 
but in a light, rich and friable soil, the produce of 
the foliage is most abundant, the leaves large and 
cordiform; extraordinary specimens having sometimes 
measured more than a foot in breadth and fifteen 
inches in length. 

Each male flower has a calyx of four concave, 
oval, membranous leaflets, four stamina, with fila- 
ments accompanied with a tridentate appendage ; 



* Letter to the Farmer and Guardian from Gideon B. Smith, Esq., 
of Baltimore, inserted in Fessenden's Silk Manual for February, 1837. 



THE MORUS MULTICAULIS. 187 

anthers sagittate, bilocular. Each female has an 
ovary, terminated by two divergent styles. The 
ovary is unilocular, containing a single pendant seed, 
which is frequently blasted or imperfect. 

A comparison between the white Italian mulberry 
and the morus multicaulis, is thus stated in the third 
volume of the Silk Culturist. The white Italian 
mulberry requires four years' growth before it can 
be safely fed from, six years before remunerating 
profits can be obtained from its foliage, and twenty 
before it can be said to have attained its full growth. 

The morus multicaulis tree can be fed from the 
first season without injury ; the second season it 
will yield nearly as much foliage as at any 
subsequent period. It may be multiplied from cut- 
tings to an almost incalculable extent. Every piece 
of wood with a single bud, being competent to make 
a shrub from four to six feet high the first year : 
whereas the white Italian mulberry requires four years 
before it can be fed from, and even then to nothing 
like the extent of the former. 

The leaves of the morus multicaulis are nine or 
ten times as large as those of the white Italian mul- 
berry ; equally as nutritious, and are eaten with more 
avidity by the worms. They will make silk fully as 
lustrous and as elastic as those of the white Italian ; 
and from the great size of the leaves of the former, 
it reduces the labour of gathering and feeding seven- 
ty, eighty, or ninety per cent.; but for the sake of 
accuracy, we will say fifty per cent. 

An acre in morus multicaulis, two years old, will 
yield by one half more foliage than the same quanti- 
ty of ground in the white Italian mulberry, six years 
old. ; when a leaf of the former is gathered, food is 
provided for nine or ten worms ; whereas a leaf of 
the latter only suffices one worm. There is no more 
trouble in gathering the large leaves of the multicau- 
lis, than there is in those of the morus alba. The 
labour of feeding is the same, with this difference, 
that in feeding with one of its leaves, you accommo- 



188 THE MORUS MTTLTICATTLIS. 

date nine times the number. In the leaf of the 
multicaulis there are but few stems, and scarcely any 
that are not eatable by the worm. In that of the 
moras alba the stems or uneatable fibres, compose 
fully one-third of its weight, all which is waste and 
loss. 

In feeding with the multicaulis, the residuum being 
but little, there is no vegetable offal remaining to 
become noxious by fermentation, and hence a greatly 
reduced quantity of labour is necessary to keep the 
whole cocoonery in a salutary state. In feeding with 
the white Italian mulberry, a large amount of stems 
and coarse fibres are left on the shelves, which, if not 
speedily removed, ferment and become productive of 
disease/' 

This comparative statement, the Messrs. Cheneys, 
who are regarded in the light of practical men, fully 
confirm as follows : " It takes jive years, at least, to 
grow off the white mulberry sufficient to afford 
foliage to feed many worms. But from the multi- 
caulis of the first year's growth, we have fed worms 
in such numbers as to obtain from fifty to one hun- 
dred pounds of silk from the leaves growing on an 
acre of land, worth from 250 to 500 dollars/' This, 
we must remember, refers merely to the amount of 
silk that may be obtained from the multicaulis, not 
within five yea? s as would be the case with the white 
mulberry, but within five months of its being planted ; 
but we shall hereafter see that the amount of silk to 
be obtained the second year is double that of the 
former. " It has another advantage of still greater 
magnitude. The leaf of the morns multicaulis is 
eight times larger than that of the white mulberry ; 
therefore the labour of gathering it is reduced in the 
same ratio. This is a very weighty consideration, 
since the picking of the leaves is the great, item of 
expense in making raw silk.* The weight of leaves 

* The fact, that in two months after the cuttings of the morus mul- 
ticaulis is planted, it begins to supply the silk worms, daily increasing 
as the worms pass through their several stages, so as to meet their wants, 



THE MORUS MULTICAULIS. 189 

which the multicaulis will produce, is a hundred per 
cent, more than the white mulberry affords, when the 
trees are of equal age and on the same extent of 
ground. This is not all. The multicaulis can be 
propagated more abundantly and cheaper than the 
morus alba or any other with which we are ac- 
quainted. That the multicaulis with proper manage- 
ment will endure the climate of New York and New 
England, we have abundant evidence. That it will 
flourish in Pennsylvania and the southern portion of 
the union is not, now, questionable. At the north 
the tree must be protected the first winter ; at the 
south* even this is unnecessary. J? 

is giving a crop of silk sooner than corn will give its yield planted on 
the same day, together with the easy facility of collecting the leaves, 
which, the first year at least, are lower, instead of higher than the 
smallest person that can be engaged to collect them, is the reason why 
the citizens of the United States have promptly sought this tree, and 
resolved to enter into the silk business at any price within their power 
to command. 

* The cases of making large profits in a short time, both in the 
multiplying of this multiplying stem or shoot tree, as well as in the 
production of silk, the first year, are numerous. Instead of giving 
numberless examples, which it would be in our power to do, we will 
give one. " As far as I know I was the first that tried the multicaulis 
in North Carolina, by procuring one rooted plant about a foot high 
from Baltimore, four years ago, which cost me a dollar, beside convey- 
ance. From this one I have since propagated several thousand rooted 
trees, not to name cuttings. I have sold to the amount of near a thou- 
sand dollars, (a thousand dollars from one in four years) and have a 
stock left worth several hundred dollars. My cuttings grew, with few 
exceptions, to five and six feet the first year, and in good ground to 
eight or nine feet in a season. My first propagated trees are sixteen or 
eighteen feet high. It is my purpose to unite in one establishment the 
vine and silk culture. And I hope thereby not only to profitably em- 
ploy all the year, widows, and children and the superannuated, or the 
otherwise disqualified for hard labour, but to clear $500 per annum per 
acre from the silk, and $1000 per acre from the vine culture. This 
may appear to some an Eutopean scheme, but not to those who know 
the profits of the silk business, when properly conducted, nor to those 
who have witnessed the abundant and never failing yield of the Scup- 
pernong vines."— Sidney Wilier, Brinkleyville, N. C, Nov. 1837. 

We have said that we could relate numberless similar examples ; but 
it would be amusing to mention the case of the man, in this Philadel- 
phia, two years ago not worth one cent ! but his credit was good; on 
which he borrowed $100, the whole of which he invested, not in a 



190 THE MORUS MULTICAULIS, 



CHAPTER IV. 

ON THE CULTURE OF THE MULTICAULIS. 

It was for some time a question whether this in- 
valuable shrub could be reproduced from its own 
seed ; and for a time the dye spun doubtfully. It 
would be now useless to spend many lines on the 
subject : it, is decided : the multicaulis is a hybrid, 
and cannot, from its own seed, in one case out of a 
thousand reproduce its like. It is true that the plant 
will produce black berries or fruit, and that but spar- 
ingly. It is further conceded that one seed out of 
several hundreds, or even a thousand, may produce 
the multicaulis ; but all the rest diverge into varieties 
so numerous as to defy the patience of the most at- 
tentive phytologist to define them. To save our own 
limits, we refer to an article, which may be consider- 
ed as the verdict of a jury of this country on the 
subject, on page 711 of vol. iv. of the Farmer's Re- 
gister. We repeat it: the multicaulis is a hybrid. 
One seed out of many hundreds may produce its 
own like ; the rest will not. Its reproduction, there- 
fore, must be either by cuttings or layers. As for 
grafting, budding or inoculating, absolutely not one 
of them is worthy of either our attention, or of that 
of the reader. 

It is asserted by a late writer that no kind of mul- 
berry tree under cultivation, can be produced from 
seed. This is an error, which all experience at once 
disproves. It is only the hybrid kinds of which this 
may be said. The white, the black, the red, in short 



silver mine, but in a tree, which yielded silver more rapidly than could 
the mine. After paying his debt, he is now worth considerably more 
than $3000 ' 



THE MORUS MTJLTICAULIS. 191 

all the distinct species, are constantly under cultiva- 
tion from the seed ; and they have thus, questionless, 
produced their like, since the creation, as they cer- 
tainly have since their distinctive properties were first 
known. The error of the author in question can only 
be attributed to his utter unacquaintance with the 
history, genera, species, and varieties of the morus. 
Such inferences may be easily but rashly drawn, 
where the writer is unable to distinguish in the order 
of classifications, according to the established laws of 
phytology that relate to tribes, order, genera, species, 
and varieties. Without this knowledge, our expe- 
rience is of little worth, since we are thus disqualified 
to mark with precision those distinctive attributes 
with which every one, that attempts to enlighten 
another, should be familiar. 

It is further decided that any land suitable for rais- 
ing a crop of corn, (some go so far as to say, of only 
ten bushels to the acre,) will do for cultivating the 
Chinese mulberry. A dry, warm, sandy loam is 
quite congenial to its nature. A cold, damp, or heavy 
soil, will not answer. // ivill thrive tolerably well 
on poor land, but much better on that which is fer- 
tile. Sunny exposures, and the declivities of hills, 
especially those which slope to the south, east, or 
west, are favourable. If the ground is to be prepared 
for layers, prepare it, as for corn, and at the same 
season furrow it into rows three and a half feet asun- 
der. Then scatter ivell rotted* manure into the fur- 
rows two inches deep. This mulberry should be 
cultivated in hedge rows, or not suffered to rise higher 
than seven or eight feet. But a few years are requi- 
site to raise considerable fields of them in full vigour, 
sufficient to supply an immense number of silk worms; 
and regular plantations can be formed, by planting 
the trees in rows of eight feet asunder, and at the 
distance of three feet and a half in the ro vvs ; a space 
sufficient for the extension of the branches, for sub- 

* This distinction is somewhat important, since it is even said, that 
fresh manure is poison to the mulberry. 



192 THE MORUS MULTICAULIS. 

sequent culture, and for the convenience of gathering 
the leaves. With the multicaulis cultivated on this 
plan, we are informed by M. Perrottet, that a child 
is sufficient, so flexible are the stalks, and the leaves 
so large, to supply with food a large establishment 
of silk worms. 

We have taken it for granted that it is generally 
understood that the several distinct species of mul- 
berry trees, or kinds capable of reproduction from 
seed, are best cultivated as we have already described 
in preceding chapters ; and that all hybrids, or varie- 
ties* incapable of reproduction from seed, can only be 
propagated by cuttings or layers. Of these methods, 
a description here for the multicaulis will suffice for 
the rest, and even for a species, whenever any should 
choose to cultivate it, in either of these ways, since 
in whatever way a hybrid may be propagated any 

* To comprehend what is meant by a hybrid plant it must be under- 
stood that among the genera and species of trees there are different 
sexes. These sexes contain two or more whorls of transformed leaves, 
of which the outer are called stamens, and the inner pistilla. The 
stamens have at their apex an organ, called the anther, which contains 
a powder or the pollen. This pollen when the anther is mature, is 
emitted, and dispersed, or deposited upon the stigma. The action of the 
winds may bear it to a distance where other plants may be fecundated 
by it, as in some trees, the male and female being distinct trees, are thus 
affected. 

The pistillum has at its base one or more cells, in which the ovula are 
placed ; and at its apex one or more secreting surfaces called stigmata. 
These ovula are the rudiments of the seeds. The fecundating power of 
the pollen enters or falls on the stigma, and the ovula of the pistillum 
are vivified, and become seeds. But it is possible, by artificial means, 
to cause deviations from this law of nature. 

If the pollen of one species be placed upon the stigma of another 
species, the ovula will be vivified, and a hybrid plant will be the pro- 
duct. These hybrids are different from both their parents, but the new 
species will have the general aspect of the polleniferous parent, but is, 
notwithstanding, influenced in other respects by the peculiarities of the 
female parent ; a fact, in procuring new hybrid plants, which should 
never be forgotten. 

Plants capable of being hybridized are those in which the sexual or- 
gans are prominently developed. To produce hybrids, therefore, plants 
must be selected from different species of the same genus, and should 
not be confounded with the spurious formations from admixture with the 
same genus and species. 






THE MORUS MULTICAULIS. 193 

other variety or even a species may ; though on the 
other hand a hybrid cannot in every way be cul- 
tivated as a species, or raised from seed. We have, 
therefore, purposely deferred the whole subject rela- 
tive to cuttings and layers to this chapter. 

Cultivation by cuttings and layers is divisible in 
four methods, of which two refer to cuttings, and 
two to the method by layers. 

1. Cuttings: method 1. By previous forwarding 
the budding or vegetative process in frames or under 
glass. Let there be prepared, before the month of 
March, frames or boxes, of convenient lengths, and 
sufficient in number to contain the cuttings on hand. 
Let the depth of the front of these frames or boxes, 
be about eighteen inches, that of the back two feet ; 
and width two feet and a half. If these be boxes, 
having bottoms, they must be perforated, to allow of 
a constant communication, on account of the draining 
off or admission of moisture, with the external soil. 
To these glass frame tops, opening by hinges should 
be provided. 

Prepare also a mixture composed of rather more 
than one half, or nearly two-thirds, of well rotted* 
stable or other manure, and the rest of a light dry 
mould, sufficient in quantity to fill the frames, box or 
boxes, to the depth, of from twelve to fourteen 
inches. Place these on the ground where they are 
intended to remain, in a position facing the sun. 

The trees intended for this use, cut into pieces of 
two, or two and a half inches, or always of such 
lengths as to have each at least one bud, which 
should be near the end.t In the frames or boxes 

* Some have said fresh manure ; though in this case, they always 
allow sufficient time for its partial decomposition. It is proper to ob- 
serve this, since it has been said that all fresh manure is poison to the 
mulberry. 

■j- It has been recommended, previous to planting of the cutting, to 
take a sharp knife, and to cut a slice oif the lower end of about three- 
fourths of an inch below the bud, on two sides, somewhat in the shape 
of the bowl of a pen. The advantage of this, however, appears to be 
doubtful. 

17 



194 THE MORUS MULTICATTLIS. 

containing the mixture already described, about the 
first of March, stick these cuttings, with the bud 
always uppermost and turned towards the south, but 
the whole cutting inclined with its head towards the 
north, at an angle of about forty-five degrees. Place 
them in rows about half an inch asunder, and at 
about the same distance in each row ; or in such wise 
that the one shall not touch the other. Press the 
earth around them with the finger and thumb, cover- 
ing over the bud about the fourth of an inch.* 

On mild warm days, open the glass tops to admit 
air ; but on the approach of frost, especially at night, 
close the glasses, and cover with matting or other 
protection. Or rather cover with mattings every 
evening before sunset, and keep them on next day, 
until the sun has attained considerable power. To 
prevent the escape of the heat of the bed from the 
sides, let a few inches of horse manure be placed 
around them. Two or three times a week, just be- 
fore putting on the matting for the evening, let the 
bed be gently watered with water that has been pre- 
viously exposed for a day or two to the sun. And 
when the plants come up and begin to put forth 
leaves, some plaster of Paris should be sprinkled 
over them. 

From the first to the middle of May, the plants 
will be from four to eight inches high : and may then 
be transplanted to the place where they are intended 
to grow. For this purpose, on ground previously 
prepared as already directed, with the plough de- 
scribe parallel rows three feet asunder ', on each of 
which let holes, for the reception of the plants, be 
made one foot apart. With a transplanting trowel, 



* It has been customary with some to leave the tip of the bud ex- 
posed ; but subsequent experience has proved the advantage of the 
method prescribed. A hand machine, with a cutter and lever, has re- 
cently been prepared, and is for sale at the seed store of Messrs. Lan- 
dreths in this city, with which thousands can be cut clean off with one 
stroke each. Its price is moderate, and it is extremely useful and con- 
venient for the cultivator. 



THE MORUS MULTICAULIS. 195 

if possible soon after a rain, take the plants up care- 
fully, with as much earth as possible attached to the 
roots. Insert these in the cavities prepared, the earth 
drawn around, press about them with the finger and 
thumb. Water them, for two weeks daily, especially 
if the weather be dry ; or until the plants give evi- 
dence of having freely commenced drawing their sus- 
tenance from the soil. If the whole of this be at- 
tended to, very general success and with few failures 
will be the consequence, and the plants will grow, 
during the same season, from four to six feet, and 
will ripen their wood so that the ensuing winter will 
not injure them. 

The advantages resulting from the process of pre- 
viously starting the cuttings in hot beds, are several 
and self-evident. By this means the culturist can 
insure to his young trees at least four weeks' longer 
growth in the first season. One bud by this means 
only is necessary, but in other cases two, which alone 
is a saving of half the expense in trees. The cer- 
tainty of success as to each cutting is by this method 
much greater. Watering the whole when necessary, 
is by the contracted space they occupy much facili- 
tated ; and by this forwarding process, the young 
plants get such a start, that the weeds, which soon 
after spring up in prodigious numbers, cannot so se- 
riously injure them. 

2. Cuttings : method, 2. By open cultivation 
without previous budding. It is strongly asserted 
by some that two buds instead of one are necessary 
on each cutting whenever planted in open culture. 
For this let the ground be previously prepared with 
well rotted barn-yard or other stable manure ; or in 
the want of it, with a mixture of ashes with fine 
mould, in the proportion of 150 bushels of the former 
to four loads of the latter to the acre. Having plenty 
of this or other suitable compost, manure broadcast, 
otherwise in the furrow, or even in the dibble, as is 
sometimes done for corn. After ploughing and har- 
rowing strike off furrows, north and south, three feet 



196 THE MORUS MULTICAULIS. 

asunder, in which, one foot apart, and at an angle of 
forty-five degrees, as before, the heads pointed to the 
north, place about the last week of April the cuttings, 
one inch under the earth, with the upper bud facing 
the south. Draw the earth around the cutting so as 
to cover the bud about one quarter of an inch, and 
press the earth tightly around it. Water them for a 
few days, if there be no rain. As the sprouts appear, 
let the hoe draw some mould carefully round them, 
so as to give the roots depth of soil for their nutri- 
ment. Let the weeds be kept down, and the ground 
in all the above cases be kept frequently turned over, 
and fresh ; and a good crop of trees may be insured. 
By the frequent use of the cultivator, all grass and 
weeds between the rows should be effectually kept 
down. To keep the plants clean, and the ground 
well stirred and mellow is highly necessary till the 
first of August ; after which the ground should not 
be stirred, and the trees should be left to ripen their 
wood. Plaster of Paris in the proportion of one 
bushel to the acre may be strewed over the plants 
when they are first forming their leaves whilst the 
dew is on them. 

Fig. 2. 




THE MORUS MULTICAULIS. 197 

3. Layers : method 3. Layering by the whole 
tree, without branches. Trees are either layered by 
the whole tree, or by first taking off the lateral 
branches, and then layering each separately ; the lat- 
ter plan is preferable ; since it allows sufficient room 
for the young shoots to grow. 

For this purpose let the ground be duly prepared 
and pulverized by ploughing, harrowing, and if ne- 
cessary, rolling ; and manure, at least in the drill, 
with the compost already mentioned or slaked ashes. 
About the last week of April, run a plough or culti- 
vator through the land, as if for corn, in parallel 
lines, three feet asunder ; and let each furrow be 
three inches deep. One person lays the tree in a 
horizontal position in this furrow ; the root of one 
plant being placed at the top of the one preceding it, 
and proceeds thus to the end of the line. Another 
follows him with a hoe, and draws the earth over the 
prostrate plant, covering it with mould to the depth 
of from one to two inches ; though care should be 
taken not to bury it too deep. Wherever the furrow 
is not of depth sufficient to admit of covering the 
root or thicker part of the tree to that extent, with 
the hoe deepen the farrow below the root. In cover- 
ing the root and main stem, lightly press down the 
earth with the flat part of the hoe, so as to cause the 
earth to adhere to both. And, in covering, draw into 
the furrow none but the well pulverized mould, that 
nothing should impede the ascent of the young leaf- 
let. A little additional care employed here, will be 
well repaid in the improvement of the crop. Nothing 
can be more simple than this process. An additional 
advantage would be gained by previously steeping, for 
twenty-four hours, the trees in pure water. The 
roots and stems being thus all planted, proceed in all 
respects with the lateral branches in the same manner. 

4. Layers : method 4. Layering by sections de- 
serves the attention of culturists. Cut the tree into 
pieces of from twelve to fifteen inches ; and having 
prepared the soil at the same season as already di- 

17* 



198 THE MORUS MULTICATTLIS. 

rected, place these sections in the plough trace in such 
a manner that there will be a piece of the plant alter- 
nating with a space of equal length intervening be- 
tween it and the next section. The intention of this 
is to admit more freely the sun and air between the 
plants, and also to favour the growth of the offshoots 
or branches ; for these by the last method will be, 
from the closeness of the trees, few, compared with 
the number of buds which otherwise would produce 
a plant. 

When the moras multicaulis is planted by layers, 
a tree does not always proceed from each bud. The 
buds, it is true, will frequently all put forth, but soon 
some one will exhibit greater vigour than the rest, 
and its growth will be rapid ; but the next shoot or 
shoots will probably dwindle or dry up. The last 
method of planting layers is said to obviate this diffi- 
culty, as the several shoots, in their possession of vital 
power, are more on an equilibrium, and is, therefore, 
on the whole to be preferred. Of the two methods 
of preparing and planting cuttings, that of previously 
budding them is said to be much the better, though 
some prefer the latter. The last spring, cuttings 
planted without previously springing them nearly all 
failed, while layers were successful. But this was 
attributed to the unusual dryness of the season, and 
the want of skill among noviciates in the art, who did 
not understand many of their peculiarities and wants. 



Substitutes fob the mttebebbt tbee, in the rearing of silk 
worms, have been long and anxiously sought. It has for some time 
been an opinion that the mulberry leaf was the only food on which the 
silk worm would subsist ; but experience has proved otherwise. Among 
these substitutes, we find the Madura auruntiaca of Nuttal; the 
scorzonera of Willdenow ; the tragopogon ; and the lactuca sativa. 

The maclura, or osage orange, it is said, affords a good substitute 
for the mulberry, and will make excellent cocoons. This is a spreading 
deciduous tree, and at maturity is from twenty to thirty feet high, with 
a yellow axillary berry, the size of an orange, but not so succulent, 
though said to be agreeable when fully ripe. It was originally found 



THE MORUS MULTICAULIS. 199 

on the banks of the little Missouri or Washita river ; also on those of 
the Red river in Louisiana, and of the Arkansa river in the Arkansa 
Territory. It is rapidly spreading over the south-west ; and is a valu- 
able tree for hedges as well as for ornamental variety. It begins to find 
a place in our nurseries, and will soon be generally known on account 
of its beauty. 

The scorzo?tera, or viper grass, from scurzon, Sp. viper, on ac- 
count of its being considered a certain remedy for the bite of that rep- 
tile ; an attribute, however, which we much question, as few plants used 
for food possess such active qualities, unless we may suppose the roots 
contain medicinal properties not found in the tops, which is sometimes 
the case ; and even such roots with particular preparation become safely 
edible. 

The TRAGOPoooif porrifoliux, or salsafy, is well known in our 
gardens, as an esculent root, resembling in its habits, carrots, parsnips, 
&c. That a complete substitute for the mulberry had been found out, 
was recently announced, and from it, doubtless, the discoverer, from the 
supposition that it contained both a cheaper and better food for the silk 
worm, expected fame and wealth. It was ultimately ascertained that this 
important secret for supplanting the morus tribe, was no other than 
salsafy ! The secret, however, died in the act of revealment. We hear 
no more of it. 

The lactdca sativa, ox garden lettuce has, in several of its species, 
been long known, as affording leaves on which the silk worms will feed. 
Cocoons have been made from them, as well as from the leaves of the 
trees already named. But they have been used either for amusement, 
experiment, or when other more natural and agreeable pabulum failed. 
The latter is probably the poorest of the substitutes known. Many 
others, may, no doubt, be in time discovered ; but it is not probable that 
any herb or leaf, other than that of the mulberry, will ever be valuable 
for the silk culture. Though these substitutes have partially succeeded 
in the production of silk, yet not in a single instance, so far as known, 
of good quality, and therefore the use of them can by no means be re- 
commended. Rice flour is said to be used in China for silk; but in 
this country were it employed for this purpose, it would soon become 
scarce and dear. In short, no food can be supplied in equal abundance, 
nor so well adapted to fill the silk-secretors of the caterpillar, as that 
which has already been considered to be its legitimate and peculiar pro- 
perty. Other varieties of silk- secreting caterpillars consuming food of a 
different description may yet be discovered. It is said that in the Bra- 
zils, a caterpillar is found spinning its cocoons in the woods, from which 
the natives make silk. But we have no well authenticated accounts 
either of the worm, or of the tree on which it feeds. 

There are several other kinds of substitutes, as for example the leaves 
of the willow, or of the rose tree ,- but the above are the principal now 
used. In England experiments have been made on an extensive scale 
to discover substitutes for the mulberry. Among these the succulent 
buds of blackberries or the young leaves were offered to the worms and 
eaten greedily by them. The elm, the sweet cowslip, and the primrose 
were presented with equal success ; but when subsequently the mulberry 
leaf was offered, all the substitutes were instantly deserted, and their 



200 MULBEREY LEAVES AND STATISTICS. 

preference for the food that nature, not art, ever designed for them was 
immediately decisive ; nor could they afterwards be induced to taste the 
leaves which before they had greedily devoured. The leaves of lettuce 
and spinach were those they would afterwards taste. No flower or leaf 
of a roseate hue could they be made to approach. 

These remarks we close with observing that those who seek for sub- 
stitutes may, it is true, gratify useless curiosity, but will never thereby 
either benefit the public, or increase the quantity of silk. 



CHAPTER V. 

MULBERRY LEAVES : LEAF-SELLING : MULBERRY TREE- 
RENTING : LEAF-MARKET : STATISTICS. 

1. Analysis of the mulberry leaf. All sub- 
sequent writers appear to be indebted to Count Dan- 
dolo for information on this point ; but whilst they 
have added nothing new on the subject, they have 
deprived us of many remarks of practical conse- 
quence which may be considered as a comment on 
the count's important text, the cmalysis of the mul- 
berry leaf* 

" There are five different substances in the mul- 



* A recent author on the " Mulberry and Silk Worm," detailing his 
experience, commences by decrying all published works as translations of 
foreign authors or compilations not adapted to our country. But having 
acquitted himself of this difficulty in his path, he at once takes up Count 
Dandolo and other authorities, and having darkened what they made 
clear, and confused what they had simplified — having minced the most 
important intelligence, and left those subjects doubtful where others had 
rendered them lucid and well defined, he suddenly leaves his readers in 
the mists of conjecture, without a new idea, an improvement, or any 
experience of which it was not in the power of every one who chose to 
take up any other book but his own to obtain more correct and definite 
intelligence. Having left his subject in " confusion worse confounded," 
he performs one redeeming act, by fixing upon it a price so outrageously 
enormous, that it is not likely to do immense injury by its circulation. 
To foreign authors, and to the good sense of our able and industrious 
fellow-citizens in correcting and improving them, we owe every thing we 
know on the silk culture. 



MULBERRY LEAVES AND STATISTICS. 201 

berry; 1. The solid or fibrous substance. 2. The 
colouring matter. 3. Water. 4. The saccharine 
substance. 5. And the resinous substance. 

" The fibrous substance, the colouring matter, and 
the water, excepting that which composes the body 
of the silk worm, cannot be said to be nutritive to 
that insect. The saccharine matter is that which 
nourishes the insect, that enlarges it, and forms its 
animal substance. The resinous substance is that 
which, separating itself gradually from the leaf, and 
attracted by the animal organization, accumulates, 
clears itself, and insensibly fills the two reservoirs, or 
silk vessels, which form the integral parts of the silk 
worm. According to the different proportions of the 
elements which compose the leaf, it follows that 
cases may occur, in which a greater iveight of leaf 
may yield less that is useful to the silk worm. 

" Thus the leaf of the black mulberry, hard, 
harsh and tough, produces abundant silk, the thread 
of which is very strong, but coarse. The white 
mulberry leaf of the tree planted in high lands, ex- 
posed to cold dry winds, and in light soil, produces a 
large quantity of strong silk, of the purest and 
finest quality. The leaf of the same tree, planted 
in damp situations, in low grounds, or in a stiff soil, 
produces less silk, and of a quality less pure and 
fine. The less nutritive substance the leaf contains, 
the more leaves must the silk worm consume to com- 
plete its development. The result must, therefore, 
be, that the silk worm which consumes a large quan- 
tity of leaves that are not nutritive, must be more 
fatigued, and more liable to disease, than the insect 
that eats a smaller proportion of more nutritive 
leaves. The same may be said of those leaves 
which, containing a sufficiency of nutritive matter, 
contain little resinous substance ; in this case the 
insects would thrive and grow, but probably would 
not produce either a thick or strong cocoon proportion- 
ate to the weight of the worm." 

The count, however, does not intend us to under- 



202 MULBERRY LEAVES AND STATISTICS. 

stand this without some limitation, as appears from 
the following remark: "the quality of the silk does 
not solely depend on the food, but also on the degree 
of temperature in which the silk worm has been 
reared." And soon after, he expresses himself thus, 
"notwithstanding all this, my experiments prove, 
that all things balanced, the qualities of the soil pro- 
duce but a very slight difference on the quality of 
the leaf : that which will appear most evident is, that 
the principal influential cause of the fineness of the 
silk is the degree of temperature in which the silk 
worm is reared." To which we shall take the liber- 
ty to add, with the risk of little contradiction on the 
subject, lastly, to the care with which the little spin- 
ners are treated throughout the whole of their inte- 
resting economy.* 

2. State of leaves proper for feeding. Not- 
withstanding all silk-growers that have favoured us 
with the result of their experience, have recommend- 
ed the feeding with dry leaves, or leaves free from 
both dew and rain, two articles appeared in the Sep- 
tember number of the Silk Culturist of 1837 affirming 



* " The following is the result of my experiments on the leaves of the 
grafted mulberry tree. 

" 1. One hundred ounces of leaves nearly ripe, picked on the sarse day 
from a Tuscany mulberry tree, produced thirty ounces (dry leaves) 
after dessication. 

" 2. One hundred ounces of the leaves of the giazzola produced thirty- 
one ounces and a half. 

" 3. One hundred ounces of the double-leaved mulberry produced 
thirty-six ounces. 

" 4. There are few ripe leaves of different trees which contain so little 
liquid as those of the mulberry when ripe ; while on the contrary, the 
young leaf of this tree contains much liquid. 

" 5. One hundred ounces of the young leaves, such as are given to the 
silk worm in the first age, weigh less than twenty-one ounces when 
dried ; thus it is evident, they contain almost four-fifths of water. This 
abundance of liquid accounts for the very great evaporation that takes 
place in the body of the young silk worm, in the first and second 
age." Id. 

It is however a fact that some writers among us recommend leaves 
partially wilted and dry, while others affirm that they may be washed, 
the water wrung out, and then given to the worms. 



MULBERRY LEAVES AND STATISTICS. 203 

that leaves wet with either were innoxious to the 
insect, and not prejudicial to the cocoon. Nothing, 
however, can be more contrary to the advice general- 
ly given us on this subject. We need not go far to 
find precepts of this nature in Count Dandolo ; they 
run throughout his whole volume, and form a promi- 
nent article of his creed. One is now immediately 
before us, " These insects would be injured by eating 
leaves moist with either dew or rain " p. 33. u The 
stripping of the leaves should not be begun before 
the disappearance of the dew, and ought to be con- 
cluded before the setting of the sun — it is all-impor- 
tant to have always a supply of dry leaves." Count 
de Hazzi, p. 65 and 67. " The preservation of the 
health of silk ivorms, depends essentially on the 
leaves being perfectly dry ivhen given to them. 
Wet leaves invariably produce a diarrhoea." Ma- 
nual published by order of Congress 1828, p. 122. It 
would be needless to multiply authorities on this 
topic ; they are everywhere, except in the two ar- 
ticles already mentioned in the Silk Culturist. 

But there are other accidents that may render a 
mulberry leaf unsuitable to the insect. " The worst 
leaf that can be given to the silk worm, and which 
always injures it, is that which is covered with what 
is termed manna, that arises from the diseased state 
of the tree. The blighted or rust-spotted leaves do 
not injure. The worm will eat this leaf, carefully 
avoiding the spots."* 

3. Preserving leaves. Hence to avoid these 
accidents, and to supply a resource for rainy days, a 
stock should always be kept on hand sufficient for 
two or three days ; during which they may be kept 
without prejudice in cool places, sheltered from the 
light, but not too dry ; such as cellars, storehouses, 

* Dandolo, p. 33. " Rusty leaves have not this inconvenience, be- 
cause the worms eat only the healthy portion." C. de Hazzi, p. 67. 
" Even when leaves become mouldy before being gathered, we need not 
regret it, because the worm eats only of it what is uninfected." Mo- 
rin, p. 27. 



204 MULBERRY LEAVES AND STATISTICS. 

brick floors, &c. They would lose their freshness in 
too dry a place and might rot in one too damp. Se- 
parate with care the wet leaves, and those affected 
by the secretion called manna ;* dry the former ; the 
latter reject. They should not be heaped up too 
much together, nor any change of temperature suf- 
fered in the leaf-store, such as to promote fermenta- 
tion, to which they will be liable when gathered in 
very warm weather, or too long left in a state of 
compression in bags, panniers, or baskets. On a dry 
and clean brick pavement, turn them frequently to 
new and dry parts of the floor, and expose them to 
the action of the air. Count de Hazzi says, " spread 
them in parcels on a clean linen cloth in a dry room, 
stir them often, with a rake or fork ; shake the cloth, 
and the leaves will soon dry. Dusty leaves must be 
cleansed with clean linen." t If the signs of the 
weather be watched with ordinary vigilance, much 
trouble, however, of this kind may be avoided. 

4. Mode of gathering the leaves. Count 
Verri recommends to pass the hands from the lower 
parts of a branch to the top, and to strip the tree of 
its leaves upwards, not doivmvards, as the latter 
mode would injure the buds. This should be parti- 
cularly enjoined on children and on others employed 
in picking. In short, the whole process requires 
caution to prevent the trees, especially when young, 
from receiving injury. Nature evidently has not in- 
tended that they should be stripped violently of their 

* The manna is a disease which seldom affects the mulberry in this 
climate, but the information may, notwithstanding, be of great im- 
portance. 

-f- The better way at least with the leaves of the morus multicaulis is 
to wash leaves which become dusty, and after wringing out the surplus 
water, as a washerwoman would wring a cloth, let them remain thinly 
scattered in a shady dry place till they become dry of the excess of 
water. From experiments hereafter to be adverted to, it will be seen 
that dried leaves are used in some places, by preparing them in the fall 
and feeding the young worms with them before the tender leaflets have 
been sufficiently matured in the spring. Hence we conclude that if the 
culled leaves are properly preserved from heating, moulding, SfC, what 
is called wilting will not injure them. 



MULBERRY LEAVES AND STATISTICS. 205 

foliage. In the event of having hedges, orchards or 
other plantations, begin by pulling the leaves of the 
hedges ; then proceed to the young trees, when it is 
generally prescribed to strip each completely, for, if 
any leaves remain on the branches, they attract the 
sap, whilst the naked branches are incompletely 
nourished.* 

5. Repeated defoliations. On this subject 



* So far as this inquiry relates to the multicaulis, it may be further 
observed, that the leaves must be plucked carefully so as not to injure the 
bud ; for the plant is now of such value that one bud more or less 
makes a difference with the purchaser ; as it is well known that each 
bud will produce a tree when properly planted and cultivated. It is 
generally thought too that leaves perform functions for vegetables ana- 
logous to that, of lungs for animals. Hence it is recommended not to 
strip the multicaulis of all its leaves during the season, at least, of its 
growth. Whilst the tree commands a high price in the market, not 
more than one half of the leaves should be taken. In the course of a 
few years, when the plant is extensively grown, and its value diminish- 
ed, it- will be allowable to cut it down as wanted, and pass stalk, limbs, 
and leaves through a cutting machine into the hurdles. To obviate all 
doubts under present circumstances on this subject, in the event of wish- 
ing to raise more crops of silk during any summer than one, the dilemma 
may be solved by feeding the second or any successive crops, from dif- 
ferent lots of trees kept for that purpose on the same estate. 

All climbing on young trees must be avoided. In this case, the use 
of a rolling or wheeling ladder is recommended. It consists of two 
parts ; a wheelbarrow, the legs of which are to be from seven to eight 
feet long, straight, somewhat projecting beyond the wheel, and connect- 
ed by four cross sticks ; and a ladder six feet long, which is attached to 
the wheelbarrow by a fourth cross stick. With this apparatus, a single 
man is able to carry several bags of leaves. The ends at either extre- 
mity must be pointed with iron. It forms when only half displayed a 
double ladder in the form of a triangle, resting on the ground, from its 
vertex at the cross sticks, the wheel of course being on one side, then 
suspended some inches above the ground. When opened out and fully 
extended, it is a ladder of from twelve to thirteen feet long. The leaf- 
bags used with this apparatus must be hooped, so as to remain open, 
and ought to have a hook to be hung on the branches ; and care must 
be taken that the leaves, to keep them free from dust, be not emptied on 
the ground. When conveyed to the wheelbarrow or other vehicle they 
should be kept sheltered from the sun. For hedge forms and shrub 
plantations, as for the multicaulis, much of this trouble and expense is 
unnecessary. Yet light wheelbarrows with long deep bodies, or bodies 
with outward and obliquely projecting railing, will be found to be pre- 
ferable to a heavy cart, in transporting leaves to the cocoonery or leaf- 
store. 

IS 



206 MULBERRY LEAVES AND STATISTICS. 

Count Dandolo says, " the mulberry tree should only 
be stripped once a year, and that crop should be 
gathered so as to allow time for the leaves to shoot 
again before the cold weather, otherwise the tree 
would shortly die." We have here, however, to re- 
member, that the count's precept had no reference to 
the superior energy of the vegetative principle of the 
multicaulis ; and that frequently what is an orthodox 
canon in European agriculture, is nugatory in this 
climate ; we must travel round half the globe before 
we find its like within the same parallels of latitude ; 
and when there, we shall be, as here, in the land of 
silk. For the mulberry, multicaulis, and silk, China 
is the only American pattern. It is proper to hear 
another witness on the other side of the question. 

During the present year, experiments have been 
made in feeding silk worms, and gathering the foliage 
of the Chinese mulberry, several times, during the 
season of feeding ; but what is allowable with the 
white mulberry is inadmissible with the exotic. It 
should never be denuded as the other species are ; — 
never more than one-third when young, or one- 
half when old. That this practice is adopted in 
China, is abundantly evident from a volume of 
splendid paintings just received, from a gentleman 
who has for years been conversant with that coun- 
try. It appears from these paintings, that while 
feeding, and depriving the plants of foliage, the top- 
most shoots must be carefully preserved ; but when 
feeding is over, it is then proper to nip off the 
leading shoots to promote the formation of wood, 
and at the close of the season head doivn the plant, 
the stump or root of which in our latitude is to be 
slightly covered with earth during the winter. 

6. Provisions for early supply op leaves. It 
is generally by no means advisable to admit the 
hatching of the insects until the early spring vegeta- 
tion of the mulberry is sufficiently advanced to insure 
a continued supply of the leaf; in which case no 



MULBERRY LEAVES AND STATISTICS. 207 

earlier resource procured artificially is desirable. The 
climates in this country, in which the return of these 
seasons may be calculated on with tolerable certainty, 
may be said to be anywhere to the south of the 
fortieth degree of latitude. To the north of this 
parallel extraordinary returns, in the spring season, 
of unseasonable frosts, occasionally exist, retarding 
or checking the movements of the agriculturist. Un- 
der these circumstances, it would not be otherwise 
than provident to be ready to countervail these con- 
tingencies by a secondary resource obtained artifi- 
cially. To accomplish this, there are three methods, 
one by the green leaf, and two by the dry. 

First method : or by the green leaf. Let a mul- 
berry hedge be provided in a warm situation, having 
a southern exposure, and on the north and north- 
western extremities, well protected, by buildings, 
plantations or woods. Early in the spring, cover the 
hedge, with platted straw or matting, to protect it from 
the frost by night. Or, as the worms in their first 
age consume but little, a garden border will afford 
dimensions sufficient for the purpose. Again, we 
may sow the seed broad-cast or in drills, in a forcing 
border or hot bed, and thus obtain, to meet the first 
wants of the insect, an early resource which would 
be valuable in the event of temporary disappoint- 
ment of supply in the ordinary way. 

Second method : or by the dry leaf. This is ac- 
complished simply by carefully drying and preserving 
the leaves of the early part of autumn before they 
begin to fall. It will be requisite to soak them in 
pure water, so as to restore to them nearly the same 
degree of moisture they had on the tree, and after- 
wards to dry them with clean linen cloth, before they 
are distributed to the young family in the spring. 

Third method : by leaf powder. The leaves for 
this purpose towards the close of summer may be 
taken from the tree, and dried so effectually as to ad- 
mit of being reduced to a fine powder, and after- 
wards preserved during the winter. In the spring, 



208 MULBERRY LEAVES AND STATISTICS. 

after gently sprinkling with water as much of this 
powder as may be wanted, allow it slightly to ma- 
cerate or acquire general moisture ; when if given to 
the early hatch, it will be found to attack this powder 
with an avidity not perceptibly differing from that 
with which it would consume the early leaf. 

§ 2. Renting of trees or selling of leaves. Of 
the " division of labour" in the parcelling out of 
industry in the mass, in a kind of retail manipulation, 
we, proud mortals, sometimes boast, as if it were 
peculiar to civilized society, and therefore give the 
term a sort of dignity, by heading with it whole 
chapters on " political economy/' as if that too were 
our exclusive property ; without reflecting that both 
the one and the other are carried out, even by insect 
tribes, in all their beautiful development. There is 
not an art, a fabric, a machine, or an edifice but what 
exemplifies it. The painter, the artist, the sculptor, 
the maker of a penknife or even of a pin, each im- 
plies a little host of dependent operatives in his rear ; 
and thus what would be an impracticability to one, 
becomes an amusement when parcelled out in social 
industry. And why should "silk-' either in the 
whole extent of this term, or in any part of it, be 
supposed to require any more difficult manipulation. 
Let us contemplate, for a moment, the wide surface 
it covers. Here is a leaf! and we see nothing but 
it, and its kindred leaves of the mulberry tree — but 
there is a silken shawl worn by a queen ! What 
metamorphosis has affected this ? Ovid, himself, 
with all his imaginative powers, must yield to this : 
his was fancy, ours is reality : the leaves of a tree 
are the silken shawl on the shoulders of a queen ! ! 
But what has accomplished all this ? The division 
of labour ! Ask the proprietor of the orchard ; the 
horticulturist that raised the tree ; the individual 
that culled the leaves ; the one that ministers sus- 
tenance to an insect that boasts of nothing, but per- 
forms wonders, inhabiting a building furnished with 
an apparatus both made by others; another that 



MULBERRY LEAVES AND STATISTICS. 209 

patiently waits on the reel, or the multitudes attend- 
ing the filature ; the several machinists in wood and 
iron ; the many engaged in throwsting, dyeing, weav- 
ing ; the merchant, and his carriers by land or sea to 
the retail dealer, the maker of the shawl ; and lastly, 
though not least, the wondrous insect, without whose 
toil all the rest were vain ; and then the " unknown 
something" that has diffused, if not inspired industry 
throughout the whole. In this way, and in no other, 
we arrive from the mulberry leaf to the silken shawl 
on the shoulders of a queen. Could all this be ac- 
complished by one? — Impossible. Thus what is a 
mountain to one, is sportive recreation when parti- 
tioned out to the many ; and thus by the division of 
labour a toil becomes a pleasure. 

But is the division of labour the child of man's in- 
ventive ingenuity? We could give many proofs, 
would our limits allow, to show that this is by no 
means always the case. Sometimes it has cost man- 
kind whole centuries to find out what, when seen, we 
all wonder was not for ages before discovered to be 
the most simple of all contrivances. Rather then let 
it be ranked as the creature of Providence, with which 
if we co-operate, we shall be a blessing to the world. 

Even in the production and manufacture of silk, 
strange to say, there are several parts, that we concede 
immediately should be the subjects of the division of 
labour ; whilst there are others, that we have not yet, 
in this country, an adequate idea of the benefits that 
would result to society were they equally distributed. 
Often to him that supplies the land for the culture of 
the tree, it would be an inconvenience to attend to 
the production of silk. To another that grows the 
trees merely for sale, the tons of leaves that fall in 
autumn merely to manure the earth that might be 
silk to enrich the nation, are, for the want of the divi- 
sion of labour, a serious loss. To a family having 
only partial employment, to which it would be, on 
account of the avocation of one demanding a city re- 
sidence, an inconvenience to remove to an orchard, or 
18* 



210 MULBERRY LEAVES AND STATISTICS. 

to a situation in the country, merely to afford employ- 
ment to the minor branches of the family, the esta- 
blishment of a leaf -market in cities, and the possi- 
bility of rearing silk- worms, and producing and 
reeling silk in the otherwise unemployed apartments 
of a partially occupied house, would be an incalculable 
benefit. By which means too, industry might be af- 
forded to thousands of the young, old, infirm, women, 
children, and others incapable of hard labour, that 
inhabit all our large and populous cities, who thus, 
instead of being idle or dissipated, would in enriching 
themselves as surely enrich the nation. 

Let all then that have both land and trees, and are 
willing to sustain the amusing toil of five weeks in the 
cocoonery, comprise this much of the general produc- 
tion in their individual enterprise. As for the rest, 
we must repair to France, to Italy, to Broosa, or to 
Turkey and Persia generally for an example; and we 
shall there find, that in many cases, the concern of 
growing trees or leaves is one thing, and that of pro- 
ducing silk another ;* that the one is the business of 
the country, the other of the town : and that the con- 
nexion between them is established by a leaf -market. 
The agriculturist there attends to avocations peculiar 
to the former, the manufacturer to that which is com- 
patible with others-he may have in the latter. Leaves 
there inhabit the forest until they visit the market, 
where silk worms are citizens, spare apartments are 
cocooneries, and towns or cities are the busy hives of 
domestic industry.! 

* Several years since, a farmer in a vicinity not far from Mansfield, 
(Conn.) purchased a farm on which were standing twelve mulberry 
trees of full growth. Knowing nothing of the business of making silk, 
he supposed them to be of no more than the ordinary value of forest 
trees for fuel, A neighbour, however, soon called upon him, and agreed 
to pay him twelve dollars annually for the privilege of picking the leaves. 
The farmer, to his astonishment, found that the twelve mulberry trees 
were as good to him as $200 at six per cent, interest. 

j- We do not wish to be understood as saying that the two branches 
of business are incompatible. We think quite otherwise, more espe- 
cially in this country; but we do advocate the system of a mulberry leaf 



MULBERRY LEAVES AND STATISTICS. 211 

We learn that the friend of a gentleman, now resi- 
dent in New York, in the year 1807, invited him "to 
visit a plantation of mulberry trees, which he had just 
planted at Fontaine, about fifteen miles from Lyons. 
Here sixty French acres, (about seventy-five English) 
had just been set out with trees of the mulberry, at 
the rate of 200 trees to the French acre. About six 
years afterwards he was again invited to visit the plan- 
tation, at the time the leaves were fit for gathering ; 
and he there found that the leaves of the whole plan- 
tation, or of about 10,000 trees, had just been sold on 
the trees to the gatherers, for one franc for each tree, 
or about $2000 for the whole. 

" These gatherers, (an example of the division of 
labour,) are another class, who come at times from 
remote distances with their whole families in wagons, 
with cooking utensils and provisions, with ample 
means for the purchase of the leaves. Shantees or 
sheds only, for their accommodation, are provided by 
the owner. It is particularly understood, however, 
that the leaves at the tip end of every twig are 
ahvays to be preserved, to draw the sap and preserve 
the life and vigour of the tree. 

"Four years after he was invited to renew his visit, 
when he found that the leaves had been sold on the 
trees for three francs per tree. He renewed his visit 
about seven years after, or seventeen years from the 
first formation of the plantation, and he then found 
that the leaves had been sold on all the trees, for five 
francs per tree, or for about $10,000 for the whole ; 
and that this same quantity, or more would be annu- 
ally produced for a long course of years." 

Granting that these trees were three years old when 
planted, and consequently nine years old from the 
seed at the first visit, thirteen years old at the second, 
and twenty years old at the third ; from the whole of 
this account we learn as follows : 1. That in France 



market, as being especially beneficial to citizens in moderate circum- 
stances without land. 



212 MULBERRY LEAVES AND STATISTICS. 

the leaves of the white mulberry of nine years old 
from the seed, are worth one franc, about twenty 
cents per tree ; at thirteen years old, sixty cents on 
the average per tree ; and at twenty years, or of full 
growth as sometimes said, at $1 per tree. 2. Here 
are seventy-five acres, and they yield in the sixth 
year after planting $2000, or $26.66 per acre : of the 
intermediate years we are told nothing,butin the tenth, 
they yield $6000, or $S0 per acre. We now, by the 
account arrive at the seventeenth year of the appropria- 
tion of these seventy-five acres to a plantation, when 
they yield $10,000, or $133.33 per acre for a crop of 
leaves only ! How valuable then are leaves, if of the 
mulberry, even without fruit, without roots. To how 
many other kinds of crop* could an acre be devoted, 
and yield a profit equal to an income from mere 
leaves ? 3. We are told that this rate of profit the 
trees would maintain for "a course of years,'' 7 we are 
not told, however, why such an indefinite expression is 
used. The reason, however, is self-evident, and stands 
thus ; if the trees were the grafted mulberry, chiefly 
used in France, it is true that they would thus hold 
out only for a " course of years" probably not more 
than five. This is all the benefit oi grafting, altering 
the course of nature by art. For the sake of some 
improvement in quality or quantity for a short time, 
it is rapid destruction; whereas the natural not artifi- 
cial mulberry, will improve, proprio Marte, both in 
quantity and quality, as it grows older, and has been 
found exuberant in produce, and in quality more ex- 
cellent than its juniors at the venerable age of three 
hundred years. 4. Here are ten thousand standard 
trees on seventy-five acres : hence, in France, they 
plant standards at eighteen square feet between every 
four trees.t 

* We might say from the vine; or from the beet, not to produce 
sugar, which requires machinery, but to fatten cattle; but this depends 
on circumstances, and right management; and this is not the place to 
explain. 

j- A writer in the Silk Culturist inquires, " Whether farmers cannot 
plant trees, and let them out to poor families to make silk on shares, 



MULBERRY LEAVES AND STATISTICS. 213 

§ 3. Leaf -Market. We know that these are regularly 
established on the Continent, not only of Europe, but 
of Asia. Time and limits fail to give all the examples ; 
that of Broosa is enough. There, on all the roads and 
avenues to the city we see mules, asses, camels, and 
other means of conveyance freighted with mulberry 
leaves to the leaf-market in Broosa. In the city 
itself, we see nearly every family, on the approach 
of the silk-raising season, on the move to clear, and to 
make ready for the labours of the silk worm, every 
spare apartment in the house. Two-thirds, three- 
fourths, or four-fifths of every dwelling is a cocoonery. 
And where is the difficulty ? In the town there is the 
leaf-market every day ; and in the house there are the 
worms, all the advantages of the town and country 
are combined, without the disturbance of other en- 
gagements, by the connecting link, the leaf-market. 

And it is evident of what accommodation and ad- 
vantage this would be to all parties. That to the 
leaf-groiver admits of calculation. M. Bonafoux 
found that a jourral of land of Piedmont (four-fifths 
of an acre) produced from multicaulis cuttings* of 
the second year,t fifty quintals. That is about five- 
ninths of a pound of leaves to each ; on the third year 
from the time the cuttings were set out, the same trees 
produced 100 quintals or more than one pound of 

and thereby not only extend the culture of silk, and benefit themselves, 
but also afford a livelihood to those in their employ? The editor 
answers : " We have no hesitation in answering in the affirmative. There 
are few farms in this country that could not be fourfolded in value, by 
adopting this course; besides giving an opportunity to the industrious 
poor, not only to provide for the present wants of their families, but to 
lay up something in store for the day of adversity. The children of 
poor families might be profitably employed in picking the leaves, and 
thus contribute much towards their clothing and education. Multitudes 
of such children are, instead of this, running about the streets contract- 
ing habits of vice and immorality. We know of no better remedy than 
the one suggested by our correspondent." 

* Set in rows two and a half feet asunder, and in the rows each tree 
one and a half feet apart; i. e., 11,537 cuttings to the English acre. 

■j- A quintal is equal to 100 pounds. On the jourral of land, at the 
rate mentioned of setting, there would be 9,229 cuttings or trees. 



214 MULBERRY LEAVES AND STATISTICS. 

leaves each. And he estimated the maximum to 
which they would attain at 200 quintals, (about 
25,000 pounds of leaves to the English acre,) or 
about two and two-thirds of a pound to each multi- 
caulis tree ; which at eighty cents* per quintal of 100 
pounds, would be equal to $200 per acre to the leaf- 
grower from the multicaulis tree. M. Bonafoux 
further calculates that these 250 quintals of multi- 
caulis leaves, would produce 312 pounds of reeled 
silk, which in this country would be, at least, worth 
$1560. Hence more than $1300 are to be gained on 
the 250 quintals grown in the country, by the fami- 
lies in toivn that take the trouble to attend the worms, 
and produce the silk. 

We say then, on account of the thousands of wo- 
men, children, aged, infirm, and otherwise unemployed 
people, inhabiting Philadelphia, New York, Baltimore, 
and all our large and populous cities, let a leaf-market 
be established in each, and let the farmers that have 
the ivisdom to enrich their hedges, orchards and fields 
with the wealth-giving tree, be told to bring their 
leaves by the horse load, the wagon load, the boat 
load, or our very railroads will help them; and then 
every citizen that is tied by his duties to the town, but 
has hands to spare in his family, and apartments in 
his house not paying rent, will provide the worms, 
buy the leaves, and put all in requisition; and our 
streets, and oar cities will be filled with the scenes of 
activity, marking out to all the way to industry, mo- 
rality and wealth. 

§ 4. Statistics relative to the mulberry tree. 
Both theory and practice have reference to statis- 
tical consequences. Mere theory often contemplates 
them, but without practice arrives at erroneous results. 
On the other hand, a career of practice entered on 
without previous inquiry of a statistical character, 

* A quintal of leaves sometimes attains more than this in the leaf- 
markets of the continent ; sixty-four cents per quintal, are not far from 
the average price. 



MULBERRY LEAVES AND STATISTICS. 215 

must often lead into a dilemma or difficulty, easily 
avoided by competent information of this nature pre- 
viously acquired; and when this is the legitimate 
proceed of the experience of the many, the eccentri- 
city of extraordinary cases corrected by the more ac- 
curate report of the majority, we have, perhaps, as 
great an indemnity against either failure or incon- 
venience, in the development of our practical designs, 
as the nature of things can possibly admit. 

So long as the silk, or any other business, is, in de- 
sign, at a distance, statistics may be looked upon as 
something abstract, mathematical, dry or uninterest- 
ing ; but precisely as we approach the bourne, where 
we are to have the object in our grasp, the case be- 
comes altered, until statistics appear all-interesting, 
of immense consequence. Statistics, in short, in all 
things, are too little studied. Without them, theories, 
hypotheses, schemes and systems, in art, in science, or 
in political economy, may be multiplied numerous as 
the phantasms of the kaleidoscope. But begin with 
statistics, the true gauge and barometer of conse- 
quences, and theories, hypotheses, and schemes ex- 
plode by the legion, and leave nothing but truth in 
alto-relievo. 

Relative to the silk business, no inquiry is more 
common, nor, perhaps, more proper, than what is the 
weight and value of raw silk which may be produced 
from one acre ? But it is evident that this question 
involves several others, each of which must be 
answered or understood, before we can arrive at the 
correct solution of this important problem. As 1. 
What weight of cocoons will, on the average, yield 
one pound of raw silk? 2. How many silk worms, 
will, generally, produce this weight of cocoons ? And 
this question implies at least three subordinate in- 
quiries relative to the kind of silk worm employed, 
the manner with which it is attended, and the leaf 
with which it is fed. 3. What weight of mulberry 
leaves will sustain and bring to maturity this number 
of silk worms ? This again is another question that 



216 MULBERRY LEAVES AND STATISTICS. 

evidently subdivides into as many branches as there 
are species and varieties of the mulberry. 4. Then 
we arrive at another stage of the investigation, i. e. 
what weight of leaves will a mulberry tree or shrub, 
on the average, produce, at all ages, from a few 
months to twenty years ; when, if it be the grafted 
mulberry it is said to be at its maximum yield : very 
different, however, will be the case, if it has not had 
its natural youth vitiated by the artificial device of 
man, worse than vaccine inoculation. And here, 
again to answer correctly, we must attend to several 
important distinctions ; not only according to the 
several species and varieties of the mulberry, but also 
to the nature of the soil, which must either further or 
retard its growth. 5. How many such trees or shrubs 
will an acre contain; and finally, what weight of 
leaves on the average, in each case, will an acre 
yield ? And this last inquiry depends on an almost 
unlimited variety of complex distances, that of be- 
tween the rows in the acre, and between the trees in 
each row, as well as the distinction to be primarily 
entertained in the mind of the inquirer, relative to the 
species or variety of the silk-producing tree, and the 
soil that fertilizes it. 

The wide extent of surface which these several 
questions, with their subordinate modifications, evi- 
dently cover, requires that the general inquiry, for 
distinction sake, be broken down into its proper com- 
ponent parts ; and that no attempt be made to answer 
the whole, as some have done, en masse ; and there- 
fore, have left the mist, like that of the mock-sun in 
the sunless climes of Iceland, as thick at the end of 
their apparent scrutiny as where it began. We shall 
take up, in the course of this work, seriatim, the 
whole of these inquiries. But here, immediately after 
the mulberry, our subject is leaves ; or the quantity 
of them in weight, which, on the average, according 
to its age, may be expected from one of each species 
or variety principally cultivated, or from one acre 
charged with its cultivation. 



MULBERRY LEAVES AND STATISTICS. 217 

That the yield in foliage of a white mulberry 
standard of twenty years old is from 150 to 200 
pounds of leaves, is universally affirmed.* The 
doubt, then, as to the product of white mulberries, is 
not here, but relative to those of minor growth, on 
which egregious discrepancy, amongst different authors 
exists. Mr. Cobb tells us that M. d'Homerguet 
asserts^ that a white mulberry of six years old, will 
produce thirty pounds of leaves ! This assertion re- 
appears in the first edition of Mr. Roberts' manual, 
and has been copied, with the following palpable 
contradiction in the second edition of that work. 
" The Editor of this§ manual, assumes the following : 
it being the best result at which his mind could arrive 
after the most careful examination of various authori- 
ties — that is, that a tree, as a standard, four years of 
age. well cultivated, will yield twenty pounds of 
foliage, that at six years of age, it will yield thirty 
pounds ; and that if planted in hedge form, an acre 
of land will yield an amount of leaves, when six years 



* Though even here, authors always forget to say, whether the twenty 
years be reckoned from the seed, or from the first introduction of the tree 
into the plantation of standards : an ambiguity which has frequently 
led into apparent contradiction. This appears to have been first af- 
firmed by Mr. Bailiff Hout, of Manheim, in his memoir submitted to the 
Agricultural Society of the Grand Dutchy of Baden. 

f We quote M. d'Homergue, whose book is in our hands, and whose 
residence is at our door, on the mulberry tree, because he is given as 
authority on this subject by several recent writers! We admit this 
very respectable writer as good authority on the filature. He is, on this 
branch of the business, quite au fait. But we have yet to be assured that 
he is a safe guide on some other branches of the silk culture, because his 
experience is quite limited, and he makes no pretension to any but one 
branch. From M. d'Homergue, however, we have received many at- 
tentions ; and on the Piedmontese reel and filature some information, 
which we acknowledge with the kindest feelings. But when we see 
him quoted on the mulberry tree, as a practical man, we suspect that 
there can be no extensive experience among those who do so, since 
they demonstrate to us that they are unable to discriminate between 
what is theory and what practice. 

t Page 40. 

§ " This manual," first edition. " The manual." second edition, Balti- 
more, 1838. 

19 



218 MULBERRY LEAVES AND STATISTICS. 

of age, more than equal to the support of 540,000 
worms: that is, he believes, that each tree at four 
years will yield four pounds of leaves, and at six 
years will yield seven pounds of leaves ; and that its 
capacity to yield will increase by the time the hedge 
shall have attained its twentieth year, 100 per cent. !"* 
From the whole of this passage we are edified as fol- 
lows: "each tree at four years old will yield four 
pounds of leaves," and in the former part of the para- 
graph it is said that a tree of the same age will pro- 
duce " twenty pounds of leaves !" Again, " at six 
years it will yield seven pounds of leaves ;" very true, 
since a few lines above we are informed that such a 
tree will yield thirty pounds of leaves ! Should we 
endeavour to find a salvo to resolve this gross ambi- 
guity, it must be from the phrase, " as a standard." 
The one tree then is four years old from the seed, the 
other four years from the time it became a stan- 
dard by transplanting. Allow four years for this,t 
and the same for the tree of six years, and we then 
have, that a white mulberry tree of four years old from 
the seed, will yield four pounds of leaves; of six years, 
seven pounds ; of eight years from the seed, twenty 
pounds ; of ten years, thirty pounds. 

But how far is this corroborated by other accounts? 
We find it stated by the same author,^: that " one 
pound" (of silk) was produced from eight trees, 
(white mulberries) eight years old from the seed." 
Now, as it requires 100 pounds of white mulberry 
leaves to produce one pound of silk, it is evident that 
in this case, these eight trees bore 100 pounds of 
leaves, or twelve and a half, each. The preceding 
statement relative to a tree of the same age, was 
twenty pounds. The mean of the two respecting a 
white mulberry tree of eight years from the seed, 
therefore, is sixteen pounds of leaves. 

* How extremely indefinite is all this. 100 per cent, on what? On 
the first, second, or on what other year's produce 1 

f See note, page 176. 

* First edition, p. 32, col. 1. 



MULBERRY LEAVES AND STATISTICS. 219 

We shall now quote another authority found on 
page S, vol. I. of the Silk Grower.* " In one acre 
there are, 43,650 square feet. 1,210 trees six feet by- 
six, on one acre ; or 4,840 trees one and a half feet by 
six. Each Italian mulberry tree, six years old, will 
produce six pounds of leaves. Fifty pounds of leaves, 
(some say thirty-six) will feed 1,000 worms ; 300 
cocoons will weigh one pound ; 3,000 cocoons 
(ten pounds) make one pound of silk. 30,000 trees, 
six years old, will produce 180,000 pounds of leaves. 
The above calculation is made on the white mul- 
berry." 

From the whole of this evidence, we come to the 
conclusion) that a white mulberry tree of 

Age. lbs. 

4 years from the seed will yield 4 of leaves. 

6... 7f 

8 12f 

10 20 

20 150 — 

Though this is deduced from the best accounts 
extant on this question, it can only be regarded, espe- 
cially when difference of soil is considered, as an ap- 
proximation, until the attention of the culturist is 
more particularly directed, to derive more accurate 
averages from well conducted experiments of this 
nature. 

As to the product in leaves of the morus multi- 
caulis, it is stated in an article of the Silk CulturistJ 
that 100 cuttings of the first year, i. e., within a feio 
months of setting, yielded fifty-five pounds of leaves; 
and that 100 cuttings, started the year before, pro- 
duced 150 pounds. That is, at the rate of between 
eight and nine ounces for the former, and one pound 

* And therefore has passed the revision of the Messrs. Cheney. 

j- " Each tree at six years of age, with the best cultivation, will pro- 
duce twelve pounds of leaves." Kenrick, p. 88. But Mr. Kenrick, in 
common with others, does not state whether this is six years from the 
seed or from planting. If the former, it is contradicted by several other 
accounts, but more consistent with them, if we are to understand it in 
the latter sense. 

$ December, 1835. 



220 MULBERRY LEAVES AND STATISTICS. 

and a half for the latter. We have besides various 
other evidence relative to the same point, now before 
us, too voluminous to copy in detail.* The accounts 
as to first year's cutting vary, as for example; 
seven, eight, eight, nine, nine, twelve ounces ; the 
mean of which is eight and five-sixths ounces. This 
compared with the first statement, fifty-five hun- 
dredths, or eight and four-fifths ounces, will fully 
warrant us in quoting that the average yield in leaves 
of a multicaulis cutting of the first year is above 
eight ounces or half a pound. But the mean of the 
evidence we have before us, relative to the weight of 
the leaves of layers of the first year, is fourteen and 
a half ounces. We may, therefore, safely quote, half 
a pound for the former, and three-quarters of a pound 
for the latter. 

Amongst the several thousand pages, in the many 
volumes on the Silk Culture, that we have examined, 
there is very little of a statistical character, relative to 
the average product in leaves of a multicaulis tree of 
the second year's growth ; and that little is extremely 
discrepant and dissatisfactory. Sufficient attention, it 
is evident, has not as yet been paid to this subject, 
though it constitutes an important element in calcula- 
tions relative to the silk culture, without which they 
must be comparatively indefinite and vague. We 
are aware, indeed, of all that might be said concerning 
the variable productiveness of different soils and cli- 
mates, but notwithstanding this, an average, a mean, 
does and must exist in this, and in all things, and this 
is all we aim at. It is true, that this cannot accurately 
be had except from a multitude of experiments ; and 
until these can be made and their mean determined, 
we had rather have an approximate average than 
have none. 

It was originally stated in the Northampton Courier, 
that from 100 multicaulis trees of the second year's 

* See Silk Culturist, pp. 71. 76. 130. 157; vol. III. 35. Fessenden's 
Silk Manual, vol. I., p. 140 ; vol. II. p. 2. 



MULBERRY LEAVES AND STATISTICS. 221 

growth 150 pounds of leaves were obtained; which 
is one and a half pounds per tree. This was after- 
wards copied into Fessenden's Silk Manual, vol. I. 
page 141 : and also into the Silk Culturist, vol. I. page 
71. Yet five pages after in the latter work we read, 
" 14,000 Chinese plants on one acre of two years' 
growth would yield 35,000 pounds of foliage ;" that 
is two and a half pounds per tree. We think that 
this latter statement is erroneous and presumptive ; 
not merely because it differs from the former, but 
deals so much in round numbers, as to wear on the 
face of it the absence of actual experiment or calcula- 
tion ; and until better evidence can be adduced, we 
are inclined to say that a multicaulis tree of the se- 
cond year's growth will produce, on the average of 
trees, soils, and climates, two pounds of leaves. 

But what a wide leap have we from two pounds 
of leaves, or even from two and a half pounds on the 
second year, to fifteen pounds of foliage on the third 
year; yet at page 32 of the last edition (1838) of 
Mr. Roberts' Manual we read " we assume that each 
of these trees (multicaulis) at three years of age, if 
properly cultivated, and not despoiled of their limbs 
will yield fifteen pounds of foliage !" But how is 
this series to be accounted for, first year, one half or 
three-quarters of a pound of leaves; second year, two 
or two and a half pounds ; third year, fifteen pounds. 
Mr. Cheney has somewhere intimated that the ratio 
of the increase of the multicaulis in successive years, 
is geometrical. But we have not mathematics suffi- 
cient to discover what geometrical ratio exists between 
three-quarters, two, and fifteen ; and therefore refer 
the enigma to the experimental horticulturist to deci- 
pher. Were it allowable, however, to go on the 
principle of a geometrical ratio, until matter of fact 
could correct the series, we should say that the multi- 
caulis of the first year's growth that produces half a 
pound of leaves, would on the second yield two pounds, 
and on the third, eight pounds; whilst another that 
yielded on the first year three-quarters of a pound, 

19* 



222 



MULBERRY LEAVES AND STATISTICS. 



would on the second produce two and a quarter 
pounds, and on the third nine pounds. And this, 
however, hypothetical it is at present, for want of 
facts clearly stated, must be, will eventually, perhaps, 
be found to be not far from the truth. 

The inquiry relative to the yield of foliage per 
acre, whether of the morus alba, multicaulis, or of 
any other tree, admits of as many answers, as it is 
possible to divide, without injury to vegetation, an 
acre into rows, and the several distances from each 
other that it would be proper to set the trees in each 
row. A hundred inquiries of this kind will be met, 
once for all, by the following table, and any interme- 
diate cases will be easily calculated. An acre, of 
course, we all know, is any piece of ground that con- 
tains exactly 4,840* square yards, or 43,560* square 
feet. In the following table fractions are rejected, 
and the nearest whole number taken. 

Table showing the number of trees or plants in an 
acre according to the width of rows, and distances 
between trees or plants in each row. 



8.2 . 


Number of feet distant from tree to tree in each row. 


1 


2 


3 


4 


6 


9 


12 


15 

2904 
1452 


18 
2420 
1210 


20 
2178 
1089 


1 


43560 


21780 


14520 


10890 


7260 


4840 


3630 


2 


21780 


10890 


7260 


5445 


3630 


2420 


1815 


3 


14520 


7260 


4840 


3630 


2420 


1613 


1210 


968 


806 


726 


4 


10890 


5445 


3630 


2722 


1815 


1210 


907 


726 
484 
322 
242 
193 
161 
145 


605 
403 

268 
201 
161 
134 
121 


544 
363 
242 
181 
145 
121 
108 


6 


7260 


3630 


2420 


1815 


1210 


806 


605 


9 


4840 


2420 


1613 


1210 


806 


537 


403 


12 


3630 


1815 


1210 


907 


605 


403 


302 


15 


2904 


1452 


968 


726 


484 


322 


242 


18 


2420 


1210 


806 


605 


403 


268 


201 


20 


2178 


1089 


726 


544 


363 


242 


181 



One acre X 4 X 30* -4840 ; and 4840 X 9-43560 



MULBERRY LEAVES AND STATISTICS. 223 

The use of this table will be readily perceived from 
an example or two. If we have an acre set with the 
morus alba six years old, three feet distant from one 
another in rows six feet asunder ; it is seen by the 
above table that we have 2,420 such trees on the 
acre, which at seven pounds of leaves each will pro- 
duce 16,940 pounds of leaves. And as 100 pounds 
of leaves of the Italian mulberry are equal to one 
pound of silk, we are warranted to expect from that 
acre 169 pounds of raw silk. 

But, if the acre be set with the multicaulis of the 
second year's growth one foot distant as directed, 
from one another in rows three feet asunder ; we 
shall have, according to the same table, 14,520 trees 
on the acre, which, at one and a half pounds of fo- 
liage each, will produce 21,780 pounds of leaves ; and 
since of the multicaulis eighty pounds of leaves are 
equal to one pound of silk, we may expect from the 
acre 272 pounds of silk; or 103 pounds more than 
from the acre of the morus alba of six years' growth 
set as described. 



PART III. 

ON THE SILK WORM. 



CHAPTER I. 

ON THE SILK WORM, GENUS, SPECIES, VARIETIES. " 

The silk worm, or bornbyx mori* is one of the va- 
rious familiest of caterpillars, that pass through 
several transformations into their final state, the 
moth or butterfly. All such caterpillars are of the 
lepidoptera| order§ of insects ; and of these, all 
that have four wings in their moth or butterfly state 
are capable of producing silk. 

Of insects generally, it is proper here to state, that 
when they issue from the egg, they are by naturalists 
called larva ; but in common language, according to 

* Bornbyx mori, the silk worm of the mulberry tree ; a proper dis- 
tinction, since there are caterpillars producing silk from the cypress, 
fir, ash and oak, according to Pliny, D'lncarville and others. 

f As the carpenter caterpillar, the goat-moth, earth-mason caterpillar, 
tent-maker, stone mason caterpillar, leaf-miner, bark-miner, gipsey-moth, 
tiger-moth, puss-moth, golden-tail moth, spinning caterpillar, silk worms 
of several varieties, &c. 

\ Aim?, tSos, scale, flake, and 7rrt£ov, wing ; hsxtiovrt^aL scale, or flake- 
winged. 

§ One of the twelve orders of insects, viz.: 1. Cokoptera, from wxtoe, 
a sheath, and vn^v, a wing, sheath-winged: as beetles, &c. 2. Strepsiptera, 
from a-T^/?, a turning or folding, and sn-ggov, folding-wings ; as sty lops, 
xenos, &c. 3. Dermaptera, from Si^/uct, skin, leather, and ttti^ov, leather- 
winged, as earwigs, &c. 4. Orthoptera, from o<j0o? straight, and 7rri^oy, 
straight-winged ; as cockroaches, locusts, grasshoppers. 5. Hemiptera, 
from nptTvc, half, and Tri-sgov, half-winged ; as, field-bugs, cicada, water- 
boatmen, &c. 6. Trichoptera, from B^-r^t^oe, hair, and 7rn^cv, hair- 
winged; as, the flies produced by the various kinds of caseworms. 7. 
Lepidoptera, as already described, flake-winged. 8. Hymenoptera, from 
t//*»v, a membrane, and 7rrt^ov, membraneous-winged; as bees, wasps. 



THE SILK WORM. 225 

the genus, species, &c. caterpillar* grub, or maggot.* 
Larvae are remarkably small at first, but grow rapidly. 
Some larvae have feet, others are without; none have 
wings, neither can they propagate. They feed vora- 
ciously on coarse substances, and as they increase in 
size, they cast their skin, three or four times ; until 
finally they undergo a complete change of form, and 
with a few exceptions, cease to eat, and remain 
nearly motionless. When an insect, after this change, 
does not lose its legs, or continues to eat and move, 
it is commonly called a nymph ; but when the inner 
skin of the larva is converted into a membranous or 
leathery covering, which wraps the insect closely up 
like a mummy, it is termed pupa, from its resemblance 
to an infant in swaddling bands. From the pupae 
of many of the butterflies appearing gilt as if with 
gold, the Greeks called them chrysalides ; (chry- 
salis in the singular ;) and the Romans, for the same 
reason, aurelix; and hence naturalists frequently call 
a pupa, chrysalis or aurelia, even when it is not 
gilt. Hence, pupa, chrysalis and aurelia are synony- 
mous, and signify the same state. After a certain 
time, the insect which has remained in its pupa-case 
or cocoon, is gradually preparing for its final change, 
when it takes the form of a perfect insect. This state 
was called by Linnaeus imago, because the insect 
having thrown off its larva (mask) becomes a perfect 
image of its species. Of some this last portion of 
their existence is very short ; others live through a 



9. Neuroptera, from vs/gcv, a nerve, and jtt^ov, nerve-winged,- as dra- 
gon-flies, antlions, ephemera, &c. 10. Diptera, from Sic, twice, and 
ttt^v, two-winged, as gnats, &c. 11. Aphaniptera, from *<pav»?, obscure, 
and 7TTiejv, obscure-winged. 12. Aptera, from a privative, and irrtgov, 
without wings, or wingless, as mites, lice, &c. 

* The distinction in common language, properly is, that caterpillars 
are produced from the eggs of moths or butterflies ; grubs, from the eggs 
of beetles, bees, wasps, &c. ; and maggots, which are without feet, from 
blow-flies, house-flies, cheese-flies, &c. Maggots are also sometimes 
called worms ,- but the common earth-worm is not a larva, nor is it by 
modern naturalists ranked amongst insects. It is properly a reptile, a 
creature that creeps but never Jlies. 



226 THE SILK WORM. 

year, and some exist even for longer periods. They 
then feed, at most, lightly, some not at all, but never 
increase in size. The chief object of that state is the 
reproduction of their species. The ova are deposited, 
and then the greater number speedily die. Hence, 
such an insect exists in four distinct states ; it is, 1. an 
ovum ; 2. a larva; 3. a chrysalis ; and, 4. the imago, 
butterfly or moth. 

The caterpillar is a cold-blooded insect ; has no 
heart, but a substitute in a long tubular dorsal-vessel 
running along its back, and pulsating from twenty to 
120 times a minute, by means rather of a lymph than 
blood, but performing a function analogous to the 
former. It has no brain ; and the nerves, which are 
few, are called ganglions, from being united in little 
knobs. They breathe through spiracula, or air-ori- 
fices, the number of which varies according to their 
species. The spinning apparatus, usually consisting 
of two parts, is placed near the mouth,* which are a 
part of the silk bags, that in some caterpillars are 
long, in others comparatively short, but usually slen- 
der, floating vessels, containing a liquid gum. These 
bags are of different shapes, as well as lengths, but 
are generally convoluted sacks closed at one extre- 
mity, and opening at the spinneret, larger towards the 
middle, and smaller towards the head. Their length, 
as in the silk worm, is often several times that of the 
body ; and the silk is ejected by a kind of peristaltic 
motion.t 

* Other insects spin silk from the opposite extremity of the body. In 
the great water-beetle (Hydrophilus piccus) that extremity is furnished 
with two spinnerets with which it spins its egg-pouch. The larva of the 
myrmeleon spins a cocoon in a similar manner, but differs remarkably 
in having the silk secretor in the rectum. The web of the spider is also 
a kind of silk, singular for its extreme lightness and tenuity. It is the 
proceed of four anal spinerets which never vary in number. 

| " Caterpillars have a long body, more or less cylindrical, which is 
formed in its length of twelve membranous parallel rings ; which in the 
movements of the animal mutually contract and elongate They have 
uniformly a scaly head, of a substance similar to horn, provided with two 
strong jaws, formed like a saw, which are moved horizontally, and not 
upwards or downwards as in animals of red blood. They have never 



THE SILK WORM. 227 

The larva of the bombyx mori, when full grown, 
seeks a place, as it were, of concealment, where it 
commences spinning its habitation; a protection as 
well for its present as for its future state, that of the 
pupa, to which it approaches, at once against the 
changes of the season and the attacks of its enemies. 
In this operation, it throws the liquid fluid or gum 
through the silk secretors, which are two orifices, 
passing from silk bags in its lower part, and extending, 
with many convolutions, to the other extremity of 
its body. These two apertures have been long sup- 
posed to be separated, and that each filament or fibre 
of silk was double ; but recent investigation authorizes 
the inference that they unite at the point of contact 
with the atmosphere. These orifices are like wire 
drawing machines, which graduate the diameter of 
the fibre ; and the gum bags are capable of discharg- 
ing all their contents in the elaboration of the cocoon. 
The silk secretors of the caterpillar of the bombyx 
mori, are said to be provided with glands, by which 
the juices of the mulberry leaf are discussed and 
secreted, so as to supply the different organs without 
any admixture of other ingredients.* Without this, 

fewer than eight feet, and never more than sixteen. The six first formed 
of a scaly substance similar to that of the head, are fixed under the 
three first rings and can neither be sensibly shortened nor lengthened. 
The others, whether two, four, six, eight, or ten in number, are flexible, 
and attached in pairs to the back part of the body, under their corres- 
ponding rings. These last legs are those which transport the animal. 
They are provided with little hooks, calculated to give it support in 
climbing. All the hinder legs disappear, of whatever kind the cater- 
pillar may be, when it changes into a butterfly, and there remain only 
six. Caterpillars breathe by eighteen apertures, and situated nine on 
each side of the body. Each of these openings is considered as the ter- 
mination of a particular windpipe. Some have a smooth skin, as the 
silk worm, others are rough ; and some have a skin either partially or 
wholly of velvet; and others with hair or bristles of various colours. 
A great number of caterpillars have eyes, some of them are utterly 
blind, but they attain the power of vision when they become butterflies." 
Count Dandolo. 

* According to Ramdohr, these secretors consist of two transparent 
membranes, between which flows a yellow, limpid jelly. The longer the 
secretors, the greater is the quantity of silk expended by the insect in 
the construction of its cocoon. 



228 THE SILK WORM. 

the silk would not be of the quality and texture in 
which it is found. 

The same cause that makes a crab or lobster throw 
off its shell, compels the caterpillar, at stated times, to 
throw off its exuviae. As it increases in size, its skin 
becomes rigid and tense. It is, to borrow a phrase, 
"hide-bound." Confined by a skin, which is desti- 
tute of any elasticity proportioned to the rapid in- 
crease of its dimensions, it becomes embarrassed, lan- 
guid, rejects food, from partaking which it feels an 
increase of suffering; and making a few struggles, 
the old skin yields, and the regenerated larva disen- 
thralled, swells into an enlarged size before the new 
envelope becomes of a hardness such as to resist its 
further growth. Whilst the new skin is acquiring the 
inelastic consistency of the one just rejected, the cater- 
pillar eats with voracity. This, however, as before, 
is arrested, by the unyielding tension of its new suit, 
before it has acquired maturity ; and hence the re- 
peated transformations, or moultings, as they are 
called, to which it is subject, in its advance to the 
ultimate object and fruition of its being. 

When the larva of the bombyx mori attains its 
full size, it ceases to eat, and instinctively* prepares 
a covering to protect it from the rain, and from either 
birds or insects that would otherwise devour it. For 
nature ordains it to work under trees; and it never 
changes its mode of operation whenever permitted 
to work without artificial control. In building a co- 
coon, it encloses itself in three coverings. 1. With a 
floss; 2. With silk; and 3. With gum, with which 
last, it lines the inside of the cocoon, except at one 
end, which it only partially closes, and that end is 
where it will have, from the position of its body, 

* Instinct alone is a universe of wonders ; who can adequately de« 
velope it ! ! Visigoths they must be, who never trace instinct to the 
exhaustless source of infinite and eternal intelligence. That which 
launches a planet through the illimitable void of aether, guides an insect 
over a leaf! ! And shall this be done every day, and we never derive 
the inestimable inference 1 



THE SILK WORM. 229 

neither inconvenience nor obstruction when the period 
arrives for it to make its egress. 

The cocoon being constructed, according to the 
inimitable rules of insect art, the larva disengages 
itself of its fourth skin, and enters the aurelia or 
chrysalis state. A new state of existence is soon to 
be entered on. To this end, the insect taught by a 
wisdom that is inscrutable, but that can disseminate 
itself to an atom, throws off her skin, with the head 
and jaws attached to it ; and the new skin immedi- 
ately hardens into a leathery hide. This again, gives 
way to a new form, whilst the moth is gradually 
unfolding itself, and the wings, the legs, and the an- 
tennae acquiring strength and firmness. In ten or 
twelve days, the chrysalis swells, bursts, and the 
moth struggles out of its leathern envelope into the 
chamber of the cocoon. This being accomplished, 
the bombyx mod extends its antennae, together with 
its head and feet towards the point of the cocoon, 
which, as already observed, is less secure, and thence 
emerges into day, leaving the head and entire skin 
of the late caterpillar, having the resemblance of a 
heap of foul linen,* in the antichamber from which 
it retires.! We now have a new creature, the worm, 
or caterpillar, has become a moth, a butterfly; a rep- 
tile that crept on earth is furnished with win^s to 
float in air \% & 

* Spectacle de la Nature ; Count Dandolo and others. 

t It is supposed by some, that the moth, before it escapes from the 
cocoon uses an acid to dissolve the gum, with which it had coated the 
interior of the cocoon. The end of the cocoon is observed to be wet 
^TTw ^0™ *» e g?ess. It is the middle portion of the 

cocoon that is unwound m the filature. The outer floss, called floretta 
answers purposes in manufacture when prepared as cotton. 

* J. he Hindoos took their notion of the metempsychosis from the 
transformations of caterpillars. These changes afford a natural argu- 
ment for the transmigration of souls. « What more probable," says a 
writer on entomology, "than that its apparent resurrection into life, 
should be owing to its receiving for tenant the soul of some crimina 
doomed to animate an insect of similar habits with those which has de- 
filed the human tenement." In the Institute of Menu we find a grade 

^LT/ , PUniSh T ntS; SOme of which are *» fo »ows. "A Sriest 
who had drunk wine, shall migrate into a moth or fly, feeding upon or- 
20 



230 THE SILK WORM. 

The worm commonly employed in the production 
of silk, is, by Count Dandolo, called, the silk worm 
of four moultings, of which he immediately men- 
tions two varieties. 1. Those that form a straiv- 
co loured cocoon; and 2. Those that produce the deep 
yellow cocoon ; and gives the preference to the former; 
stating that "it requires twenty pounds and three- 
fourths of leaves* to obtain one and a half pounds of 
cocoons ;" which is at the rate of thirteen pounds 
thirteen ounces and one-third to one pound of cocoons. 
He mentions, however, three other species, 

1. The SMALL SILK WORM OF THREE MOULTINGS. 

Of these he observes, " the eggs of this species weigh 
one-eleventh less than the eggs of the common silk 
worm, 39,163 of the latter forming an ounce, while 
42,260 of the smaller are required to make that 
weight. The silk worms and cocoons of this species 
are two-fifths smaller than those of the common sort." 
He adds that these cocoons are composed of finer and 
more beautiful silk, and that 400 of them weighed one 
pound, whilst 240 pounds of the common weighed 
the same. The count elsewhere acknowledges the 
general preference to be for the common worm, 
though he himself is evidently inclined in favour of 
the small; but the reasons he assigned, countervailed 
as they are by others, do not appear to be decisive, 
though the culture of the species may deserve the 
attention of the experimentalist. 

2. The LARGE SILK WORM OF FOUR MOULTINGS. 

The eggs of this species, the count obtained from 
Friuli. The eggs were only one-fiftieth more in 
weight, or 37,440 to the ounce. One hundred of their 
cocoons weighed one pound; and twelve pounds and 
a half of leaves yielded one pound of cocoons ; but 
the coarseness of the silk, and the other objections 

dure. He who steals the gold of a priest, shall pass a thousand times 
into bodies of spiders. The man who shall steal honey, shall migrate 
into a great stinging gnat ; but he who shall steal oil, into an oil-drink- 
ing ichneumon fly." 

* Of the white mulberry. 



THE SILK WORM. 231 

specified by the author counterbalance any advan- 
tages derivable from the preceding considerations. 

3. The worms that produce white silk. With 
respect to this species he says, " 1 have raised a large 
quantity of these, and found them in all respects 
equal to the common silk worms of four moultings. 
If I raised silk worms for the purpose of spinning the 
silk myself, I would cultivate only the silk worm of 
three moultings, and those that produce white silk, as 
preferable to any other; and every year I would 
choose the whitest and finest cocoons, to prevent the 
degeneration ef the species." This kind was intro- 
duced into France about the year 1783, and is there 
highly esteemed; but it is supposed to be the same 
that we have, under the name of the "white worm" 
as it produces two crops in a season.* 

To the species enumerated by Dandolo, it will 
be necessary to add : 

4. The dark drab coloured worm. This species 
is very common in the United States. They are 
commonly called the "black" worm. They live lon- 
ger, and make a greater quantity of silk than the 
larger white worms. 

* It appears from this, and other evidence before us, that we are not 
yet warranted in pronouncing, as some have done, the two crop silk 
worm as a species distinct from the third species mentioned by Dan- 
dolo. If the kind which he designates merely by the term, " the worms 
that produce white silk, and the two crop silk worm be identical, the 
name might be altered to the two crop white silk worm. In Tuscany 
they make two crops of silk annually. The two crops are obtained by 
a peculiar species of silk worm called the " two crop worm," or " white 
worm." This worm, hatched at the usual season, will finish its cocoon, 
and deposit eggs admitting of being hatched and raising cocoons during 
the continuance of the same season. This two crop kind moults five 
times, not three, as has been said. We shall meet with an account of 
an interesting experiment with this species at Columbus, Ohio, by Mr. 
Chew, in the Silk Culturist for November, 1837. In Windham county, 
Connecticut, it is also well known that there is a small pale white worm, 
which eats but twenty days, and produces fine white silk, though in 
less quantity than either the. common large pale white, or the dark co- 
loured worm ; but it has the good quality of retaining its clean white 
colour, and does not turn yellow by washing, or by exposure to the sun 
and air. These worms produce also two crops. 



232 THE SILK WORM. 

5. Silk worms op eight crops.* Of these, there 
are two varieties, as appears by the following state- 
ment. Lord Valencia! found at Jungepore, in Bengal, 
a species of silk worm, supposed to be indigenous, 
called "dacey," producing eight crops of silk the 
year. He also found another variety, but much in- 
ferior, which he terms the " China" or " Madrassa" 
which also yields its silk eight times a year.J 

6. The mammoth white silk worm. This, is 
said to be a very superior species, that furnishes 
cocoons of a large size, and fine texture. 

* The distinction between a one, two, three, &c. crop eggs is not by- 
some well understood. It means this, that the eggs of the one crop can 
be hatched successfully only from the eggs of the previous year, kept 
over winter to the following spring. But the two crop eggs may be 
hatched first from the eggs of the previous year and next from the eggs 
of the first hatch the same season. The three crop eggs will hatch suc- 
cessively from the same season's eggs in so many repeated times. The 
eggs of the one crop will not produce worms until the following season. 

f Travels to India in 1802, 1806, vol. i. p. 78, Lond., 1809. 

i This last may be the kind mentioned by Arthur Young, who says 
he obtained a silk worm from China, which he reared, and in twenty- 
five days had the cocoons ; and by the twenty-ninth or thirtieth day, he 
had a new progeny feeding in his trays. He remarks, that " they would 
be a mine of wealth to those who would cultivate them." — Annals of 
Agriculture, vol. xxiii. p. 235. The variety Madrassa finish the follow- 
ing course in forty days; six days in the egg; twenty -two days, a larva; 
eleven days a chrysalis ; and one day, the imago, or moth. 



To the species enumerated in the preceding chapter, we may add 
others, that are either yet wild, and, therefore, too rarely seen to admit 
of any minute observance of their habits, or that produce silk from other 
trees than the mulberry. 

1. The Pennsylvania** silk worm. This kind of worm, of which 
we have an interesting account in the British Annual Register, and 
also in the Silk Culturist, was found in Pennsylvania by the Rev. S. 
Pullein. The reverend author says, that he had discovered the aurelia 
of a caterpillar, which, on examination, he found to be not inferior to 
the silk worm in the quality of its silk. The cocoon is three inches and 
a quarter in length, and one inch in diameter; the shape not so regular 
and oval, as the silk worm's cocoon, but nearly resembling a dried blad- 
der. Its colour a reddish brown, and its weight twenty-one grains. It 
was covered with floss silk. Though perforated by the moth, a part 
was unwound in hot water, by which the strength and quality of the 



THE SILK WORM. 233 

staple were ascertained. The fibre being redoubled to make twenty 
thicknesses, it was found as smooth, elastic, and lustrous as common 
silk. The common cocoon weighs about three grains ; this seven times 
as much ! The moth is called isinglass by Marian ; it is large, being 
five inches from tip to tip of the wings. It feeds in the papilio state, 
which the bombyx mod does not, and it makes its cocoon on trees of 
the hawthorn or crab species. 

The same caterpillar, probably, has been described by Mr. Chambers 
of Uniontown, Pa., as taken from an elder bush, having a cocoon as 
large as a goose's egg, where others of equal or larger size were also 
found. The editor of the Silk Culturist, says it is known amongst natu- 
ralists as the attacus cecropia of Linnaeus. It feeds on the currant, elder, 
barberry, wild-cherry, and other trees. The silk being very strong, has 
been carded, spun, and woven into fabrics of an enduring quality. 

The author of this work, many years ago, found a moth fluttering in 
an orchard in the state of New Jersey, which exactly answered to the 
engraving and description of the insect furnished by the Silk Culturist. 
Ke has frequently regretted that he had not, at the moment, the oppor- 
tunity to investigate its nature and habits, but he hopes that means will 
be adopted by others to' domesticate some of these interesting varieties. 

The whole of this is fully confirmed in an article from G. B. Smith, 
Esq., in the Silk Culturist for October, 1837. "I see by the papers 
that one of our new beginners has discovered, and taken under his care, 
a new species of silk worm, an American silk worm, whose cocoon is 
some eight or ten times as heavy as that of the common, and from which 
he expects profitable results." Mr. Smith, however, does not seem to 
have been successful with those he tried. He complains that they 
" would not feed kindly, the moths flew away as soon as they escaped 
from the cocoons, and the cocoons could not be reeled." 

2. The Virginian silkworm. "Mr. Forrest Shepherd, of New 
Haven, has presented us," says the editor of the Silk Culturist, p. 19, 
vol. i., " with a specimen of the bombyx Virginiensis, or the native silk 
worm of Virginia. It is found in great numbers on the plantation of 
J. B. Gray, Esq., Stafford county, and is capable of enduring the most ri- 
gorous winter. The cocoons are found suspended on the red cedar, 
and yield a beautiful white silk of a strong thread. 

3. The Tcsseh or bughy silk worm is a native of Bengal, exceed- 
ing, in size, the common silk worm. The tusseh silk is found in such 
abundance in Bengal, and the adjoining provinces, as to have afforded, 
from time immemorial, an ample supply of a most durable coarse silk, 
which is woven into a kind of silk, called tusseh-doot-'hies, which is 
much worn by the Brahmins and other castes of Hindoostan. The 
caterpillar when full grown, is about four inches in length, and bulky 
in proportion. Its colour is green, with a lateral stripe of yellow, edged 
with red. When ready to spin, they envelope themselves in two or 
three leaves of the jujube tree, the vegetable on which they feed. These 
leaves form an exterior envelope, which serves as a basin to spin the 
cocoon in, which is then suspended, by a thick silk cord, from the branch 
of the tree. It remains nine months in the pupa or chrysalis state, and 
three months in that of the egg and caterpillar. The moth expands 
from the extremeties of its wings to five or six inches, the female to eight 

20* 



234 THE SILK WORM. 

inches, and immediately escape. The larvae feed on the trees, and are 
watched day and night to guard them against birds. The natives of 
India pretend that these worms cannot be domesticated. The durability 
of the silk woven from it is astonishing. Mr. Latreille was convinced 
that these were the same as the wild worms of China. This kind of 
silk would, no doubt, be highly useful to the inhabitants of many parts 
of America and the south of Europe, where a cheap, light, cool, and du- 
rable dress, is much wanted. 

4. The Arrixdt silk worm is the bombyx cynthia of naturalists. 
It is peculiar to the interior of Bengal, and may be reared in a domestic 
state. The food of this caterpillar consists entirely of the leaves of the 
common castor oil plant, well known in this country, which the natives 
of Bengal call arrindy. Feeding the caterpillars with these leaves 
would, therefore, make this plant doubly valuable. This insect is about 
three inches long when full fed. The colour pale green. The cocoons 
are remarkably soft, white or yellowish, about two inches long and three 
in circumference. This insect remains in the pupa state but twenty 
days. The filaments are so delicate as to render it impracticable to wind 
off the silk. It is, therefore, spun like cotton ; and woven into a coarse 
kind of white cloth, apparently of a loose texture, but of incredible du- 
rability; the life of one person being seldom sufficient to wear out a 
garment made of it. The coverings of palanquins are made of this silk. 
It is said, however, that it must always be washed in cold water, since 
boiling water is destructive of its fabric. 

5. The Jarroo silk worm is another kind also found in India ; the 
cocoons of which are spun in the coldest month. The silk is of a darker 
colour. The males when hatched invariably fly away, but the females 
remain on the asseen tree, (the terminalia alata glabra of Roxburgh,) 
on which the worms are placed to feed. They are not impregnated by 
the males bred along with them, which fly away ; but in ten or twelve 
hours, another flight of males arrives, the females afterwards deposit their 
eggs on the branches. 

6. The Emperor moth is represented by naturalists as deserving of 
attention on account of the beauty of its colours, and the excellency of 
the silk elaborated in the formation of its cocoon. It feeds on fruit trees 
and on the willow, and spins a cocoon in the form of a Florence flask, 
of a silk so strong, so thickly woven, and so well gummed, that it has 
the appearance of damask as to softness, and of leather as to consistence. 
The tortrix chlorana, the gypsy moth, the cream spot, the tiger moth, 
the dock weevil, the puss moth, and many others, spin cocoons, the silk 
of which when carded, for they cannot all be unwound like the common 
cocoon, make a fine and elastic silk ; but are of little use for manufactur- 
ing purposes ; and, therefore, are merely adverted to here for the sake 
of bringing as much of the whole subject, on this occasion, before the 
reader as possible, either for interest or curiosity. 

7. The Bombyx chrtsorrhoea spins a silken web in company with 
a society of its fellows of three or four hundred, round the end of two 
or three adjoining twigs and leaves, allowing space sufficient for the 
whole of their " body politic" to retire within. On the approach of win- 
ter, this community, or corporate body, whether it has mayor, recorder, 
common council or not, shut themselves up in the nest, which by this 



THE SILK WORM. 235 

time, with the addition of repeated layers of silk, has become so strong 
and thick as to be impervious to the wind and rain. 

8, 9. Tsotjex-kien and tiatt-kien silk worms of China. These 
two kinds may be described together. Du Halde* mentions that in the 
province of Chantong, there is found a species of silk on trees in great 
quantities, which is spun and made into a stuff called kient-ehou. This 
silk is the production of little insects much like caterpillars, which do not 
spin cocoons, but very long threads, which being driven about by the 
wind, hang upon trees and bushes, and are gathered for use. The stuff 
is much coarser than that made of silk spun in houses. The worms are 
wild, and eat indifferently the leaves of the mulberry and other trees. 
Of these two varieties, the tsouen-kien is much larger and blacker than 
the common silk worm ; and the tyan-kien much smaller. The silk of 
the first is of a reddish gray ; that of the other is darker. The stuff 
made of these materials is very close, does not fret, but is very durable, 
and washes like linen .j- 

10. The Social silk-nest spinxer of South America. Don Luis 
Nee observed on certain trees growing in Chilpancingo, Tixtala in South 
America, ovate nests of caterpillars, eight inches long, which the inha- 
bitants manufacture into stockings and handkerchiefs.^ Great numbers 
of similar nests, of a dense tissue, resembling Chinese paper, of a brilliant 
whiteness, and formed of distinct and separate layers, were observed by 
Humboldt in the province of Mechoacan, on the mountains of Santa- 
rosa, at an elevation of 10,500 feet above the ocean level, on various 
trees. The silk of these nests was an object of commerce, even in the 
time of Montezuma ; and the ancient Mexicans pasted together the inte- 
rior layers, which may be written on, to form a white glossy pasteboard. 
Handkerchiefs are still manufactured of it in the region of the late In- 
tendancy of Oaxaca. 

11, 12. The Chinese wild silk worm of the fagara axb ash 
tree ; and the Chinese wild silk wor^i of the oak. The memoirs 
of M. P. d'Incarville make mention of three kinds of these wild silk 
worms, one feeding on the fagara, or pepper tree, one on the ash, and 
another on the oak ; but the wild worms of the fagara and of the ash 
are the same. There are two kinds of the ash tree in China, the tcheou- 
tchun and the kiang-tchun ,• of which the former is the same as ours, 
and on it the wild silk worms feed. After all the Chinese patience that 
has been expended in taming these little animals, they are pronounced 
to be incorrigible. From their cocoon, in which they spend the winter, 
they emerge in spring metamorphosed into a moth, when they provide 
for their successors and disappear. Were they brought into a warm 
place, their exodus would doubtless take place earlier, as that of the 
common worm, whose precocious egress is most probably effected by 
artificial interference. Hence, the suggestion arises, that were our co- 
coons kept in a low temperature from the moment of their first forma- 
tion, and brought out on the ensuing spring to produce eggs, instead of 

* History of China, vol. III. p. 359. 

t See Histoire des Sciences, les Arts dps Chinois par Mailla, torn. 2. p. 575, and 
Robertson's Disquisition concerning ancient India, vol. 13, p. 434, note 33. Ma 
dame Lottin's Treatise on Silk worms, Paris, 1757. 

X Annals of Botany, 2d, p. 104. 



236 THE SILK WORM. 

hatching them in the usual way, that they would, in this case, give fresh 
eggs as wanted. And whether nature did not so intend them to pro- 
duce is an inquiry worthy of the attention of the culturist. 

These wild worms moult four times, each of which is four days dis- 
tant from the other. To preserve them from hornets, wasps, and birds, 
a net is spread over the tree; and from insects, a trench of water is 
formed round it. The cocoons of these worms are said to be as large as 
eggs, and are carded, not wound. The larva of full growth is nearly 
twice the size as that of the common worm. 

Some kinds of wild silk worms that feed on other trees than the mul- 
berry are found even on our own continent. In the first volume of the 
American Philosophical Society of Philadelphia, is a paper by the late 
Moses Bartram, in which are recorded some experiments in propagating 
caterpillars from cocoons found on the black haw, alder, and wild crab 
tree. Though, from these and similar productions of nature most at- 
tempts as yet. have failed to procure a continuous thread ; yet the thread 
obtained by Rev. Mr. Pullein from the cocoon of the isinglass moth bore, 
when of the thickness of twenty single fibres, a weight of fifteen and a 
half ounces, whilst the thread of the same size of the common silk 
worm always broke with fifteen. 



Silk, a substance so important to man, has naturally directed the at- 
tention of the entomologist, and his inquiries relative to all the different 
animated existences producing this material, have passed the limits of 
the caterpillar, or lepidoptera order, to insects of a very different character. 

Of spiders there are many species; most of them extend their labours 
no further than merely to make a web to ensnare and detain their food. 
But others are known to go beyond this, and spin a bag in the form of a 
cocoon, for the protection of their eggs, nearly similar to that of the silk 
worm. The discovery that the fibres of these cells possessed considerable 
tenacity induced M. Bonn to a filature of their cocoons. It appears 
from authentic documents, that M. Bonn was successful, and that he 
not only found out the method of reeling, but also succeeded in manu- 
facturing several articles from their silk, particularly gloves. M. Bonn 
has noticed only two kinds of silk spiders; from one of which he pro- 
cured the finest quality of raw silk ; which he affirms is equally beauti- 
ful, strong and glossy, with that formed from the bombyx. The spider 
spins from fine papillae placed in the hinder part of its body, which serve 
the office of so many wire-drawing implements to form and mould a 
viscous liquor, which, like that of the silk worm, dries and forms silk on 
exposure to the atmosphere, forming filaments capable, as matter of fact 
has proved, of being made conducive to human convenience and cover- 
ing. Reaumer states that he has seen, whilst this insect has been pro- 
ducing its silk, as many as seventy or eighty fibres through a micro- 
scope; and perceived that there were infinitely more than he could 
reckon ; so that he thought himself within bounds, by saying, that from 
the tip of each of the five papillae, there were furnished 1,000 separate 
fibres, or 5,000 in all to form one filament of a spider's web ! This may 
seem questionable to some not accustomed to the microscopic manipula- 
tions of nature ; but whoever consults M. Leuwenhock will find that 
400 fibres of a young spider are not larger than one made by another 



THE SILK WORM. 237 

full grown; that a hundred fibres of the adult insect are only equal to 
the diameter of a hair; or that if the fibres and hair be both round, 1,000 
fibres will scarcely be equal to the hair of a man's beard. Calculations 
mathematically exact cannot be expected concerning such minute ob- 
jects; they are, however, sufficiently so to intimate the astonishing mi- 
nuteness of a fibre, and the reason of the strength of the filament com- 
posed of them. 

" It may interest the curious reader to know by what process Mr. 
Bonn proceeded to attain such surprising results. He commenced by 
collecting from various places the bags or cocoons of the short legged 
spider, to the amount of twelve or thirteen ounces. They were beaten 
with a stick until entirely free from dust, and next washed in warm 
water, which was continually changed, until it no longer became clouded 
or discoloured. After this they were steeped in a large quantity of 
water wherein soap, saltpetre, and gum-arabic had been dissolved. The 
whole was then set to boil over a gentle fire, during three hours ; after 
which the bags were rinced in clean warm water to discharge the soap. 
They were then dried ; in a few days carded, the cards being finer than 
those used in carding silk. Thus a silk of a peculiar ash colour, the 
threads being stronger and finer than those of common silk, was ob- 
tained, and capable of standing any trial of the loom.* 

M. Reaumer questions the last statement, and thinks it will not bear 
a weight as great as that sustained by the fibres of the silk worm. But 
this difference of opinion needs produce no quarrel, since it has yet to be 
discovered in what way silk bags from spiders can be produced in 
quantity sufficient for the use of even one individual. But M. Bonn states 
that a female spider produces from 600 to 700 eggs, while of the 100 to 
which he erroneously limits the silk worm, not more than one half he 
raised to produce cocoons. He affirms that spiders are more hardy, will 
breed more rapidly and with less loss. Of 700 to 800 young spiders 
kept by him, hardly one died. He says the spider is not venomous. 
When bitten by them, he found that their own silk was efficacious in 
healing the wound. M. Reaumer, appointed by the Royal Academy 
of Paris to investigate this subject, declared that spiders were unsocial 
beings, their natural fierceness and venom rendering them unfit to live 
together ; the larger spiders always destroyed the smaller when put to- 
gether, rendering mulberry leaves or any other food unnecessary, and by 
which their commonwealth became speedily depopulated. " It appears," 
says M. Reaumer, "that the work of one silk worm was equal to that 
of ninety-two spiders ; and that one pound of spider silk would require 
the production of 27,648 insects." 

We will now turn to the pinka, a little edible muscle of the vermes 
testacta order — a Umax, with a bivalve fragile shell, and furnished with 
a beard, the valve hinges without a tooth. It does not fasten itself to the 
rock like other muscles, but sticks its sharp end in the sand, the other 
end being at liberty to open and shut in the water. In common with 
the muscle it has the power of spinning a viscid matter from its body 
like the spider or caterpillar. Its length is often two feet, and the 



* See Lardner, part II. p. 142, 143, 144, &c. 



238 THE SILK WORM. 

threads it produces are scarcely inferior in fineness and beauty to the 
single filament of the silk worm. Like the threads of the spider, its 
fibres singly do not possess much strength, but the almost infinite num- 
ber which each fish puts forth to secure itself in a fixed position, amidst 
the commotion of the waves, make up for their fragility. The pinna 
differs from the muscle in the number and superior firmness of its fila- 
ments. These shell-fish have been distinguished, the one as the silk 
worm, the other as the caterpillar of the sea. 

M. Reaumer says that he placed the pinna in a glass vessel filled with 
sea water to observe its mode of spinning. They opened the shell, put 
forth the tongue, extended and protracted it several times in every di- 
rection, and having fixed on a place by feeling, whereon to deposit its 
threads, it placed its tongue for some time on a chosen spot, and drawing 
it in with great quickness, it formed a thread, one end of which was 
fastened to the place selected. This operation it repeated until its 
threads were sufficient for its purpose. The threads when detached at 
one end, were soon replaced by new ones. The pinna is found in the 
Indian Ocean, but the largest and most remarkable are in the Mediterra- 
nean Sea, on the southern coast of France or of Italy. 

The threads of the pinna have been known to the ancients, and were 
used by them in the manufacture of certain fabrics. The silk produced 
by the pinna, as in the case of the spider, is in quantity limited, but the 
fineness of pinna silk, greatly exceeds that of the spider, if it excel not 
that of even the silk worm itself. Of this silk, caps, gloves, stockings, 
waistcoats, and other garments, whether in simple or mixed fabrics, have 
been made to some extent in Sicily, and Toronto in Italy. A pair of 
stockings made of pinna silk may be contained in a snuff-box of ordinary 
size. They are warmer than those of silk, and more lustrous, though 
thinner. The pinnse are raked up from the voeks and sand, with an 
iron fork made of a peculiar shape ; and they are sometimes taken in 
considerable quantities. 



CHAPTER II. 

cocoonery: eggs: hatching: statistics. 

Every wise man in bringing a progeny depend- 
ing on his providence into being, should not only pro- 
vide food, but also shelter for their comfort and pro- 
tection. Relative to the former, the ample details 
already furnished when treating on the mulberry tree, 
require nothing further to be added ; we will now, 



THE SILK WORM. 239 

therefore, describe the accommodations requisite, 
during the process of feeding the silk worm, for its 
growth, health, and maturity. 

No small part of the minute directions given by 
European writers, arrangements considered by them 
as necessary for the successful rearing of the silk 
worm, arises from the state of their climate. Although 
much attention should be every where paid to this 
department of the business, yet the superior excellence 
and peculiar adaptation of the climate of the United 
States to this culture renders many considerations, 
thought in Europe and elsewhere to be indispensable, 
here altogether unnecessary. In fact, what is diffi- 
cult, complex, and demanding extraordinary care in 
Europe, can be performed amongst us with compara- 
tive facility and ease. This, however, has induced 
some authors, either almost entirely to omit this part 
of the subject, or to run into wild extravagance, with 
respect to what requires close attention. It has been 
said, that the silk worm can be reared with ease 
under an open shed, in any room, or almost under 
any imaginable circumstance in this felicitous climate. 
Without calling in question the practicability, and the 
occasional success of this extreme of venturesome 
negligence, we affirm that unqualified reliance must 
not be placed on such statements. Man is rather in- 
clined to degenerate than to improve, and if he be led 
to suppose that silk worms will almost take care for 
themselves ; there then wants but one step to arrive 
at the persuasion that they can do it altogether. 
Care should, therefore, be taken to furnish something 
like system, from which, without the warrant of ex- 
perience, no wide departure should be allowed. Not- 
withstanding the operations are extremely simple; 
yet to secure complete success they demand both 
attention and care. 

A cocoonery may be constructed of any indefinite 
length, breadth and height. But to be more precise ; 
we will here suppose one of medium dimensions, cal- 
culated to admit of feeding conveniently half a million 



240 



THE SILK WORM. 



of worms. Let the building be fifty-four feet long, 
twenty-two feet wide, ten feet high, and of one story. 
In this apartment there may be three rows of frames, 
each of eight tiers, fourteen inches above another; the 
lowest one foot above the floor, and the upper a 
suitable distance below the pitch of the roof. These 
frames should be constructed horizontally between 
upright posts, one on each side, as in the following 
figure. 

Fig. 3 




The posts should stand five feet apart, so that the 
shelves for feeding the worms may be six feet by 
three feet at the bottom, but gradually diminishing in 
width by one or two inches to the upper platform or 
frame. The next upper one being lessened equally on 
each side. On each shelf, ab b « c c, is placed a frame 
of net work or millinet resting on a piece of wood 
fastened to the sides of the shelf about one inch above 
the level of the shelf. The shelf itself is stationary, 
and rests on slips or slats of wood nailed to the two 
posts on each side that compose the shelf. The frame 
or hurdle resting on the ledging of the shelf, and 
about an inch above it, is movable. On this, and on 
the shelves ths worms are fed, and the intention is to 



THE SILK WORM. 



241 



permit the litter produced in feeding the worms to 
fall through, so that by alternating their position, they 
may be frequently cleaned without inconvenience. 
The above engraving represents one shelf as in a 
whole range. In the ranges constructed in the build- 
ing above described, there may be eight successive 
shelves folio wing each other thus, : : : : the dots repre- 
senting the posts and space between the shelves. 

The frames should never touch the walls on any 
side. A free passage should be left all round for the 
convenience of the persons feeding. Silk worms are 
the prey of innumerable insects, as spiders, ants, 
beetles, and others; against which they should be 
carefully guarded, by sweeping all cobwebs off, keep- 
ing the walls and floors clean, and examining the 
premises with repeated and close attention. The 
diagram or cut which follows exhibits an end view 
of a cocoonery of two stories. The post should be 
three inches square. 

Fig. 4. 




242 THE SILK WORM. 

The roof is surmounted by a ventilator (1), another 
may be observed on the centre of the lower floor (4), 
with a sliding board to open and shut ; also two on 
each side (2, 3,), one above and one below the floor 
of the second story. The view is from one end to the 
other. The gangway or passages between the tiers 
of shelves being before the eye lengthwise. 

Count Dandolo estimates his shelves or wicker trays 
to be two and a half feet wide. The width may depend 
on the room. If made for the purpose, let it be with 
reference to rule. If apartments in private houses 
are used, the walls being plastered will not be so apt 
to harbour vermin. The ventilators should always be 
increased according to the dimensions of the building, 
but where the quantity fed in one place is small, there 
will not be much hazard in the feeding. In Broosa, 
and other places in Turkey, the worms are almost 
always fed in the private apartments of dwelling- 
houses; and the litter is never removed, but remains 
a pile on the floor, the worms extricating themselves 
to keep above the dirt, as well as they can, till they 
mount to spin. 

The walls of the building should have windows at 
regular distances; we do not mean regularly glazed 
windows, though some light is necessary. But instead 
of glass, stationary blinds moving on an axis, and ris- 
ing or falling by a slip of wood attached to each in a 
perpendicular position. The blinds being horizontal. 
By pressing this slip up or down the blinds will open 
to admit light and air, or close to exclude both, so that 
the windows act as ventilators, or for air, as well as 
light. 

On the under surface of the shelves and hurdles, on 
which the worms are, and facing downward, are con- 
structed the corners, as we may call them, on which 
the caterpillars may mount and spin. Many con- 
trivances may be made for this purpose, and almost 
any one will answer. Some give them a branch of 
an oak, some a bunch of straw, others a head of broom 
corn, or other means according to the convenience of 



THE SILK WORM. 243 

the silk grower. We have seen a more convenient plan 
than any of these, and offering:, we should suppose, as 
favourable a retreat for the caterpillar to spin, as for 
the culturist to collect the result of its labour. This is 
by covering the under part of the shelves, or that 
which canopies the hurdle beneath, with laths of two to 
two and a half inches wide,nailed on edgewise, three 
inches apart, over the bottom of the shelves, the under 
one excepted. This presents a serrated surface, into 
which the worms ascend by the aid of what are called 
ladders. These are formed of cotton cord, of sufficient 
size, fastened to the sides of the hurdles below ; and 
the lower and inner edge of the serrated canopy above, 
running the cord from one end of the shelf or hurdle 
to the other, in the same manner as a bed bottom is 
corded, except that the latter is constructed vertically. 
The worm will not, therefore, have to ascend this lad- 
der perpendicularly, but at an angle of about forty- 
five degrees. When they ascend, they seek out a 
corner, alongside probably of another, in one of these 
indentations, and there spins its cocoon. They can 
easily be abstracted when the spinning is complete. 
The caterpillar always ascends before it spins. Some 
will crawl to the roof, if permitted, but most stop at 
the apartments prepared for them. 

When the shelves ascend above the breast, a safe 
and suitable ladder should be provided, so that the 
hurdles may be taken out by the feeder in a horizontal 
position, when he proceeds to clean the shelves. 

Having now explained the form of the cocoonery, 
or Atelier* as it is called in France, it will be suf- 
ficient for us merely to allude to a vast volume of 
apparatus recommended by Count Dandolo to the 
European culturist, as almost necessary, at least as 
beneficial, in the management of a large establishment 
of silk worms. The count himself occupies not less 
than thirty pages in the description of his thermometro- 
graphs, thermometers, hygrometers, barometers, ban- 

* Atelier de vers a soie, a workshop, or spinning place for silk worms. 



244 THE SILK WORM. 

boxes, stoves, flash-fire grates, ventilators, and a 
variety of subordinate laboratories. It is universally 
agreed among all writers acquainted with this climate 
that these are here generally redundant and unneces- 
sary. In short, experience and matter of fact, even in 
the most unfavourable sections of the Union, have 
proved this to be generally the case. A good ther- 
mometer, indeed, would, in certain cases, be useful, 
and never superfluous, especially where the superin- 
tendent is desirous to make notes and record experi- 
ments relative to the hatching and operations of the 
progeny under his care. Though in actual practice, 
more bushels of cocoons may be raised without than 
with one, yet a good thermometer cannot be other- 
wise than occasionally advantageous in a cocoonery.* 



* " Since the publication of this work," says the London translator 
of Count Dandolo, "there have been erected large laboratories in Lom- 
bardy, which are called, Dandolieres, an honorary testimony to the phi- 
lanthropical Parmentier of Italy." The name, therefore, is already esta- 
blished and acknowledged, and cannot be altered for the better. Jt is 
the name -of a species of cocoonery, or of that kind recommended by 
the count, more particularly useful for humid climates than for this, and 
therefore, furnished with all the apparatus and correctives which he de- 
scribes. 

In the outward and general construction, it differs not, except as to 
its dimensions, being calculated for twenty ounces of eggs, in anything 
essential, from the one already described. It is immediately connected, 
however, with a subsidiary laboratory or room, into which the count re- 
moved the worms after the fourth moulting. The building was thirty 
feet wide, seventy-seven long, and twelve high, and when reckoned to 
the top of the roof twenty-one feet high. There are thirteen unglazed 
windows, with Venetian shutters outside, and paper frames inside ; un- 
der each window near the floor, are ventilators, or square apertures of 
about thirteen inches such as to be closed by a neatly fitted sliding pan- 
nel, so as to permit the air to circulate and blow over the whole floor. 
When the air is not wanted, the paper frames may be closed. There 
are eight ventilators, in two lines, in the floor and in the ceiling, placed 
perpendicularly, opposite to one another, in the centre of the passages 
between the hurdles or trays. They have sliding pannels made of thick 
glass, to close them, and to admit light from above. As the air of the 
floor ventilators ascends, that of the ceiling ventilators descends, it must 
pass through the trays. There are also, other six ventilators, made in 
the floor to communicate with the rooms beneath. Three of the thirteen 
windows are at the end of the house, and at the opposite end are three 
doors, constructed so as to admit more or less air as required. These 



THE SILK WORM. 245 

The eggs of the silk worm are so small that 
more than sixty are requisite to weigh one grain. In 
appearance they exactly resemble a poppy-seed ; in 
colour, they are, when first laid, of a yellowish hue, 
but change in three or four days to a bluish, or, as 
seen through a microscope to a purplish cast, with a 
greyish sprinkle over them. The egg has a small hol- 
low, or flattened indentation on its upper surface ; the 
under is glued to the cloth or paper, and is flat. 
Those that continue of the colour they had at first, 
are not fecundated, and, of course, worthless. 

The preservation and treatment of eggs. In 
some places eggs are sold in bottles, having been not 
without detriment previously scraped off the cloth. 
Eggs of this description no one should purchase, es- 
pecially since this mode has facilitated the mixing of 
the seed of the poppy with them, a deception, whilst 
they remain on cloth or paper, not easily practised. It 
is possible not only for a theoretical but also for a prac- 
tical man to commit mistakes, some of which may be 
even egregious, if not absurd. If the latter should be 



doors open into another hall thirty-six feet long, and thirty wide, which 
forms a continuation of the large laboratory, and contains trays sufficient- 
ly raised to facilitate the care of the worms. In this hall there are six 
windows, and six ventilators under them, and also four ventilators in the 
ceiling. There are six fire places in the great laboratory, one in each 
angle, and one on each side of the centre, and a large stove in the mid- 
dle. Argand lamps, that give no smoke, are used to give light at night. 
Between the hall and the great laboratory, there is a small room, having 
two large doors, the one communicating with the laboratory, the other 
with the hall. In the centre of the floor, there is a large square opening, 
which communicates with the lower part of the building. This is closed 
with a wooden door. This aperture is used for throwing down the lit- 
ter, and for admitting fresh leaves, drawn up by a hand pulley." — Now 
if to this we add the therm ometrographs, the thermometers, hygi-ometers, 
barometers, and all the other etceteras, of the count's thirty pages, we 
shall have that species of a cocoonery called a Dandoliere. And if 
ever Sir Richard Philip's grand epoch shall arrive, when by the entire 
revolution of the precession of the equinoxes, some twenty-five thousand 
years hence, the seas of the Antarctic hemisphere, we are told, shall be 
transferred to those of the Arctic, and vice versi ; and it should rain here, 
as it does at Manchester, where they say it rains always, we will re- 
pair to Lombardy to take a more exact pattern of a Dandoliere. 

21* 



246 THE SILK WORM. 

popular, and determined to oppose some favourite 
fancy or conjectural benefit to nature,reason and com- 
parative investigation, some scores of mere theorists 
are ready to follow in his wake, and to echo his pre- 
script as something infallible and oracular. Hence it 
has been recommended by a number of copyists, to 
scrape the eggs off the paper or cloth, to wash them 
with water or wine, or to employ other preposterous 
and unnatural manoeuvres. Nothing can be more 
evident than that this is an officious interference with 
the regular manipulation of nature; any artificial 
misdirection of this kind, is, to say the least, super- 
erogatory and detrimental. 

We, therefore, object to washing, or to any similar 
interference with the process of nature, as laid down 
by Count Dandolo and M. d'Homergue. The un- 
fecundated eggs will not hinder the impregnated from 
hatching, nor injure their vitality, as has been represent- 
ed, by their vicinity. The writer last mentioned says, 
"no degree of cold can hurt them, provided they do 
not freeze." In this country it has been abundantly 
tested that no degree of cold, even down to zero, can 
injure them, provided that they are not suddenly 
raised or depressed from one extreme of cold or heat 
to another. It is a sudden transition of temperature 
by which they are injured.* Eggs permitted to re- 
main under the influence of a high temperature will 
hatch, and young larvae, whether the mulberry leaf 
be ready or not, will present themselves, to pass 
through all the several stages of the parent. 

* The caterpillar in her natural state lays her eggs in situations ex- 
posed to the changes of the seasons. They will, therefore, remain un- 
injured by freezing and cold. In disposing her eggs, the silk worm 
covers them with a gummy substance, which resists the ordinary varia- 
tions of the seasons. The eggs of the bombyx mori have been deposited 
on a board in an exposed situation all winter, through the storms and 
tempests of the season, and though frequently covered with snow and 
ice, whilst the thermometer has been even below zero, yet they have pre- 
served their vitality, and hatched at the natural thermal change, precisely 
when the same cause has simultaneously developed the vegetable aliment 
intended for the sustenance of their future existence. 



THE SILK WORM. 247 

Eggs, when laid, must be kept dry and cold, and 
preserved in a vessel or by other means from the at- 
tacks of insects or vermin ; if in summer or autumn, 
in a temperature not exceeding fifty-five degrees. 
When spring arrives, they should be placed in an ice- 
house, or in some such place where they can be kept in 
a temperature not greater than from forty to forty-five 
degrees, for though at some degrees above this, they 
may not hatch, yet they will be liable to addle, as they 
would be if kept in a cellar, where the unavoidable 
dampness of such places would promote this accident, 
and consequently disappoint the hopes of the silk- 
grower. A cellar, therefore, is not a good place for 
them. In the winter, a dry cool garret is better ; 
where they must be protected from vermin and insects, 
by many of which they are devoured. To keep them 
from the atmospheric air is not according to nature, 
which is the best guide in most cases ; on the con- 
trary, wherever kept, they should be frequently aired, 
as the exclusion of air is one undoubted means of de- 
stroying their vitality. They may, by thus artificially 
preserving them, at a low dry temperature, be kept 
to any part of the season which is desirable. The 
cocoon also, as soon as formed, may be preserved in 
a low temperature, and in the spring brought into a 
higher one. In this way the chrysalis remains in a 
torpid state until the warmth revives it, when it 
changes its coat, emerges from its confinement, lays 
its eggs, and dies. Such eggs, too, will be fresh and 
better for a new hatchment than those deposited 
during the previous fall. Under all circumstances, it 
must ever be remembered, that it is not proper to al- 
low a hatch, until the food is ready for the young 
larvae in sufficient abundance. 

Hatching. No hatching should at any time be 
attempted, until the mulberry leaves are springing 
sufficiently to promise an abundant supply, during 
their first and every successive age, as the larvae in- 
crease in size to use them. It is always safer to be a 
few days too late than too early. The multicaulis 



£48 THE SILK WORM. 

leaf should be well developed, as when too young 
these leaves, as well as others, are less healthy than 
when mature. In removing the eggs from the ice- 
house for the purpose of hatching them, care should be 
taken not to introduce them too suddenly to a change 
of temperature. They should be cautiously and gra- 
dually brought from a cold to a warm atmosphere, 
until the temperature be from seventy -five degrees to 
eighty degrees. Otherwise through the injury from 
sudden transition, sustained by organization so deli- 
cate they either would not hatch at all, or hatch and 
die soon after. 

The method in hatching eggs pursued at Broosa, 
says Mr. Rhind, is, " the temperature of the chamber, 
near the place where the eggs are put, should be 63i 
degrees. This is effected by increasing the fire, 
should the temperature be less, or by opening the 
ventilator or door, should it be more. This should 
be carefully maintained for two consecutive days. 
On the third day, the temperature is raised to 66°; 
on the fourth, to 68° ; on the fifth, to 70° ; on the 
sixth, to 72°; on the seventh, to 75°; on the eighth, 
to 77° ; on the ninth, to 79° ; and on the tenth, 
eleventh and twelfth, to 81°." This is quoted, to 
show that it is not mere precision that is here essen- 
tial to success, but rather a gradual elevation of tem- 
perature to that maximum of heat which a transition 
from the egg to the larva requires.* 

* Mr. Smith says, " At the period for hatching-, which in Maryland is 
generally about the 1st of May, the eggs may be brought out, and their 
papers spread on a common table, called the hatching table. The proper 
period is always best ascertained by the state of the mulberry leaves. I 
consider the best and most safe time to be that when the leaves are about 
the size of a half-dollar. The hatching table may be kept in the common 
laboratory. In large establishments, a small, close room, with a stove, 
will be very useful in hatching the eggs, as the temperature may be 
regulated at pleasure. But in this case, a thermometer is almost indis- 
pensable, as the necessary equability and gradual increase of heat could 
not be secured without one." 

M. de la Brousse, who, we must remember, wrote for the climate of 
France, says, " The eggs, on white paper, are to be placed on a clean 
table, separating each ounce of eggs, and leaving a space of six or eight 



THE SILK WORM. 249 

When the eggs are thus carefully exposed to heat, 
in the manner we have described, they will show 
signs of vitality from the seventh to the tenth day, 
and by a good eye, or a glass, may be seen within 
the pellicle of their covering. Count Dandolo says, 
" The following are the signs of the speedy vivifica- 
tion of the silk worm. The ash-gray colour of the 
eggs grows bluish, then purplish, it then again 
grows gray, with a cast of yellow, and finally of a 
dingy white. These shades of colour will vary, and 
they depend also on the means used in washing the 
eggs." This washing, however, is what we advise 
to be left out, as ridiculously superfluous. The ten- 
der leaves of the mulberry should now be in readi- 
ness, and scattered on the trays, shelves, or table 
where they are placed, and the attendant should be 
up by the dawn of day to watch them. The young 
larvae, resembling a small black worm, generally ap- 
pear from sunrise to ten o'clock in the morning. 
Those that do not leave their shell at the latter hour, 
usually remain until the next morning. It is impor- 
tant to keep the worms of each day's hatch by them- 
selves, which may easily be done by the leaves 
placed near them for their early sustenance, to which 
those that have left the shell will immediately and 
instinctively attach themselves, and are, therefore, 
thus easily separated and removed wherever the 
person tending them chooses. The hatch of any one 
day, particularly if sufficiently large, should, all 
through the season of feeding, be kept by itself ; but 

inches all around each parcel, for the reception of small leaves of the 
mulberry. This table, of a size proportioned to the quantity of eggs 
that we intend to spread on it, ought to be placed in a room seven or 
eight feet square, and seven or eight in height, closely wainscoted or 
plastered, with a fire-place, or, still better, a stove, for the maintenance 
of a proper temperature. A fire must be made in this little room, early 
in the morning, at noon, and at ten in the evening, for three days before 
the eggs are placed in it, in order that the air and the walls should be 
made dry and warm." M. de la Brousse, however, would begin with 
the temperature of 77°, increase it on each day 2°, until it attain a 
maximum of 92°. 



250 THE SILK WORM. 

never should the hatches of more than two consecu- 
tive days be placed together, as they cannot thus 
pass, during the time of feeding, through the several 
moultings together; and the consequence will be, 
that on the same shelf worms will be found eating 
voraciously, whilst others are sick or in the act of 
moulting, or worms in different states, requiring dif- 
ferent treatment, which will be inconvenient, if not 
detrimental. In short, in all cases, worms of the 
same age, even to a day, and in the same state, 
should be distinctly classed, and always placed by 
themselves.* 

The silk worm at no time evinces much inclination 
for motion ; and if properly fed and provided, will 
not travel beyond the distance of two or three feet 
throughout the whole of its pilgrimage from the egg 
to the cocoon. But when the young worm first ap- 
pears, unless food be near, it displays considerable 

* Count Dandolo, who seems to have obtained credit for his skill in 
the rearing of silk worms, as well on account of his factitious details and 
minuteness, as of his having in some measure led the way in this 
art, but not for either simplicity or brevity, qualities of which he knew 
little, gives us an elaborate description of the method of hatching the 
silk worm. He informs us that the egg-cloths should be steeped in 
water, stretched on a board, scraped off with a dull knife, then washed 
in a basin with clean water ; the water skimmed to take off dirt and 
bad eggs ; put into another basin, and steeped in wine ; then again 
washed, rubbed, drained, and dried on linen cloths ! 

On this, Mr. Roberts remarks as follows, " Where, we would ask, did 
the worms, in their native state, procure the scrapers and persons to use 
them 1 Where did they derive the water to perform their ablutions in 1 
Where, let us ask, has science derived the knowledge, that the gummy 
substance, which gives to the eggs their cohesive property, should be 
removed 1" 

It seems to us, that when the larva becomes vivified, and is about to 
emerge from confinement, it needs no aid but what nature had provided, 
that is, the fixed foundation on which the shell and egg were deposited, 
against which, as against a fulcrum, the insect is enabled to act mecha- 
nically, and facilitate its escape from the embryo state. If it emerge at 
all without this fulcrum, it performs more than Archimedes could, when 
he said, " Ao? ttvu trree, k'-u t»v ynv x/v»o-&>" — " Give me only a place 
whereon I can stand, and I will shake the earth." But this very " tov 
o-tu" "place whereon I can sfrmrf," Count Dandolo and his copyists 
take away, by their scrapers, ablutions, and wine-washings, and leave 
the little folks to act mechanically on moonshine, if they can. 



THE SILK WORM. 251 

activity. Its strong desire to eat, which it imme- 
diately manifests, impels it to wander anywhere for 
food. But if this desire be satisfied by an adequate 
and timely provision, they seldom show an inclina- 
tion to leave the shelves on which their wants are 
supplied. Should this, at any time, take place, which 
will only be occasioned by hunger, the mere smell of 
a leaf is sufficient to bring them back to their domi- 
cile. This disinclination to locomotion is one of the 
greatest advantages of the domestic over the wild 
silk worm ; otherwise, the trouble consequent on 
their attendance would be immense. Providence, 
without our contrivance, has ordained it otherwise, 
so that our attendance on their little but important 
wants, is an interesting specimen of the coalition of 
profit and amusement. 

We have not stated any special day or week of the 
calendar for the hatching to commence. As already 
observed, this should be regulated by the time when 
the food is in sufficient abundance on the branches 
of the mulberry tree. Before we commence a history 
of the life of the insect from the time of its egress 
from the egg, it may be proper to premise, that each 
of the moultings through which it is destined to 
pass may be considered as a disease. The period of 
moulting is about twenty-four hours, during which it 
lies in a torpid state, and refuses to eat. They are 
then greatly injured by disturbance, and, therefore, 
as already remarked, all in the same stage of for- 
wardness should be classed distinctly, or be in a place 
or places separate from those of any other stage, that 
the feeding or attendance necessary to one, may not 
disturb another class in a different condition. 

Diseases. — The silk worms are, too, through im- 
proper or negligent treatment, liable to several dis- 
eases, sufficiently distinct, by criteria peculiar to each, 
from one another. With these diseases it may be 
proper to become acquainted, before we enter on the 
important operation of feeding, that the silk grower 
may, as he advances, understand, at every step, the 



252 THE SILK WORM. 

prognostics by which one disease is distinguished from 
another, and the remedies necessary to arrest its pro- 
gress. Some of these diseases may be engendered 
by the climate, but more either by that peculiar treat- 
ment of the eggs, which fortunately is better known 
elsewhere than here, or by some negligence in the 
feeding, or mismanagement during the respective 
stages ; but the whole of this, whether experienced 
in this or in other countries, it is incumbent on us to 
bring here, in proprio loco, under one view. 

The Congressional Report on the Silk Worm enu- 
merates eight causes of disease in silk worms, viz : 

" 1. Errors in the hatching of eggs, and in the 
treatment of very young worms. 

" 2. Unwholesome air of the district in which they 
were bred. 

" 3. Impurity in the air in which they are kept ; 
arising from imperfect ventilation, from the exhala- 
tions of the litter and faeces of the worms, which 
have been permitted to accumulate. 

"4. Too close crowding, owing to which cause 
their spiracles (spiracula) or breathing orifices were 
stopped, and the expiration and inspiration of air pre- 
vented.* 

" 5. The quality and quantity of food. 

" 6. Improper change of food. 

"7. Peculiar constitution of the air in certain sea- 
sons, against which no precaution can avail.t 

" 8. Frequent changes of temperature in the room 
in which they are kept." 



1. Diseases from defect in the eggs. It is said, 
that when the department destined for the coming 

* Had not mechanical impediment been contemplated here, we might 
have suspected the philosophical accuracy of this statement ; and sup- 
posed that the writer intended to say, that by crowding, the vital princi 
pie, or oxygen, in any proximate volume of air was impaired ; which we 
yet suspect is more or less, on such occasions, combined with any impe- 
diment that is mechanical. 

■f Indeed ! What, not even a Dandoliere, nor the Count's fumigating 
bottle, nor the chloride of lime ! Credat Judaeus, non ego. 



THE SILK WORM. 253 

forth and laying of the eggs of the moth, is too cold, 
below fifty-nine degrees, (say sixty degrees) the im- 
pregnating liquor will not be perfected ; and conse- 
quently, it does not give them their ashy, yellowish 
colour, which in the course of fifteen or twenty days, 
indicates the perfect impregnation. Those imper- 
fectly fecundated bear in them the elements of dis- 
ease. Let those who select eggs notice this ; an im- 
portant hint, whilst the eggs are so dear. A room 
too hot, seventy-seven to eighty-one degrees, is also 
injurious. If the male delays coition, he loses much 
of the impregnating liquid ; if he couples too soon, 
before the female has discharged a fluid with which 
she is loaded, her eggs become imperfect, and their 
larvae will be liable to disease. Or when the place 
where the eggs are kept, is too damp, or they are too 
thickly heaped together, in either case they are in- 
jured. In the former, the evaporation or drying 
requisite to their maturity is prevented; in the latter, 
they heat, and the embryo is impaired. 

No disease, however, from any of these causes will 
occur, when 1. the temperature of the room, appro- 
priated to the moths and their evolutions, is kept be- 
tween sixty-eight and seventy-five degrees; 2. when 
the apartment is dry; 3. when the cloths or paper on 
which the eggs are deposited are not too much folded, 
and are properly hung on frames. — Diseases, also 
arising from the mismanagement of good eggs re- 
main to be mentioned under this head. When the 
temperature, whilst the embryo is approximating to 
the state of the larva, is too suddenly elevated, the 
organization suffers partial decomposition, indicated 
by the reddish colour of the shell, which is a prog- 
nostic of disease in the insect. Injurious consequences 
also follow a sudden depression of temperature; in 
short, sudden transitions are to be avoided throughout 
the whole existence of the animal. 

2. Diseases from the bad air of the distinct in 
which silk worms are reared. Low marshy places, 
productive of noxious vapour : all situations where 

22 



254 THE SILK WORM. 

the air is liable to become stagnant ; and certain ef- 
fluvia, especially that from tobacco, or tobacco smoke 
from segars are injurious, the latter being speedy- 
death to the worm. On the contrary, high and ele- 
vated places, where wholesome air exists, are salu- 
tary to the worm, and favourable to the quality of the 
silk, the product of its labours. 

3. Diseases from impurity in the air of the co- 
coonery. When the air of the cocoonery is not fre- 
quently renewed, particularly in the two last ages, a 
large volume of evaporation and effluvia from the in- 
sects and their litter, stagnates, the transpiration is 
checked, the faeces and decomposition of the litter 
emit noxious exhalations, and the worms become re- 
laxed, and disease follows in a few hours. That 
cocooneries and all apartments in which numerous 
silk worms are kept, should be well ventilated, is, 
therefore, indispensable ; and for this very purpose, 
in all regular establishments ventilators are con- 
structed. 

When the air is liable to acquire a morbid ten- 
dency, besides the ordinary ventilation, its noxious 
qualities may, by fumigation and other means, be 
chemically neutralized. This, however, must be done 
with care and judgment. Nothing should be con- 
sumed in the mi'dst of the cocoonery, but under some 
chimney, or in some fireplace constructed for that 
and similar purposes, to which the bad air may be 
drawn in a current and consumed. Mr. Nysten, page 
105, has given his opinion as to the total inefncacy, 
as a corrective, of all mere perfumes, though he has 
not assigned the reason; which is, that from them 
there is only mechanical diffusion in the air, but no 
chemical action, and consequently nothing is neu- 
tralized. For establishments containing numerous 
insects, those from five ounces of eggs or more, the 
occasional and prudent use of the chemical fumiga- 
tory, is to be recommended. For this purpose put 
six ounces of common salt, well mixed, with three 
ounces of the black oxide of manganese into a bottle, 



THE SILK WORM. 255 

to which add two ounces of water ; which keep well 
corked remote from any stove or fire. In another 
bottle provided with a glass ground stopper, (since 
acids carbonize and destroy all corks, by which the 
acid itself becomes injured,) put a pound and a half 
of sulphuric acid; and be provided with any small 
china or delf cup or glass,* by which the quantity of 
two-thirds of a spoonful, by any mark within or other- 
wise, may be ascertained when fumigation is required ; 
in the glass, or earthen cup, measure two-thirds of a 
spoonful of the sulphuric acid,t which pour into the 
first bottle, and immediately a whitish vapour will 
ascend. Let this, always held at an elevation above 
the head or nostrils^ be carried backwards and for- 

* Instead of this in the books we find an iron spoon recommended. 
Tins, however, is somewhat singular, since it is well known that all 
metals, particularly iron, decompose the water of the mineral acids, and 
consequently hydrogen gas is evolved. But no acid except the fluoric, 
has any action on china, glazed earthenware or glass. In practice, a 
small cream jug, or vessel having a spout, will be found to be the most 
convenient. Chlorine gas is wanted from this fumigatory, which has a 
powerful disinfecting power ; but any hydrogen gas would be improper. 
" Accounts have been received from Spain," says the well-known che- 
mist, Samuel Parkes, " that in the midst of the dreadful contagion which 
reigned in that country, the inhabitants of those houses where fumiga- 
tions of chlorine gas were used, had no attacks of sickness, and enjoyed 
the best health." 

j- Before the nomenclature of Fourcroix and Lavoisier, or in the lan- 
guage of mere alchymy, sulphuric acid was called the oil of vitriol. It 
is so, in some measure yet, but very improperly, since not a particle of 
vitriol exists in its composition. It will be here necessary to caution all 
unaccustomed to its use. If a drop, or the smallest quantity fall on the 
clothes, the colour is changed, and the fabric in that place destroyed ; if 
it fall on the hand or skin, the epidermis is destroyed, but if a particle 
fly into the eye, or reach that tender region by a finger not previously 
well washed even after handling the bottle, painful or destructive conse- 
quences to the sight will follow. In this latter case apply immediately 
and liberally soap-suds, or alkali, and wash off with water. On the 
clothes apply directly liquid ammonia, and both colour and texture are 
instantly restored. For this purpose these materials should always be at 
hand. 

t In the books it is recommended to carry the bottle above the head ; 
but the proper expression would be above the eyes, mouth or nostrils, 
since chlorine gas notwithstanding all its disinfecting power, is far from 
being fit for being breathed, especially in its undiluted state, and in that 
state would be injurious to the organs of vision. When in a highly 



256 THE SILK WORM. 

wards several times through the cocoonery, and when 
the vapour ceases return the cork, and replace the 
bottle. If the state of the room require it, let this pro- 
cess be repeated, pro re natd, during the two last 
stages particularly of the worm. If the cocoonery is 
large, either repeat oftener, increase the mixture, or 
which is better, have two bottles containing the mix- 
ture of the first. In the last days of the worm, the 
bottle may, particularly if on some elevated and cen- 
tral place, be left open an hour or two each day, or 
moved when elevated into various parts of the co- 
coonery. This remedy should be repeated as often 
as foulness is indicated. When a fireplace is in the 
laboratory, a few shavings may be occasionally burned 
in the last stages, which will draw in a fresh current 
of air ; but even this, if cleanliness be strictly attended 
to, is scarcely requisite. In short, we may remember, 
as the Chinese have done for ages, that cleanliness is 
a "sine qua non" in raising silk. 

4. Diseases from want of room. When silk 
worms are on the shelves, crowded too much, they 
become unhealthy. In removing them, the hand 
need not be applied to the insect. It is only neces- 
sary to apply another hurdle with fresh leaves in it 
to the side of the shelf or hurdle, where the crowded 
worms are; which, by the smell of the leaves, they 
will perceive and crawl over to them. When a suffi- 
cient number has passed, the hurdle can be applied to 
another shelf, and so on, till the crowded shelves have 

diluted state, i. e. as when smelt at a short distance, it occasions cough- 
ing ; but if a small quantity of the gas, whilst yet undiluted with atmo- 
spheric air, enter the mouth or nostrils, painful and extreme irritability, 
if not confinement, is the consequence. The death of the ingenious 
chemist Pelletier was occasioned by inhaling by accident a large portion 
of this gas. His lungs were instantly irretrievably injured, and con- 
sumption and death followed. On the contrary, by being first held high 
above the mouth or nostrils, the gas rises by its specific levity, is diluted 
by a large volume of atmospheric air, in which whilst it disinfects or 
neutralizes noxious mixtures, becomes itself neutralized, and conse- 
quently innoxious before it reaches the respiratory organs of man or in- 
sect. It is proper here to be remarked, that the use of the chloride of 
lime instead is free from these inconveniences. 



. THE SILK WORM. 257 

Deen sufficiently thinned. Silk worms breathe through 
little orifices, or spiracula, situated on each side, near 
their legs. Consequently being crowded, to them is 
a greater mechanical obstruction than it would be to 
animals otherwise circumstanced. 

5, Diseases from the quality or quantity of food. 
On this point little need be said. The worms should 
be fed with great attention to their peculiar wants. 
The leaves should be given dry. Wet leaves pro- 
duce a diarrhoea, according to some ; but others, on 
the contrary, state that they have washed dry leaves, 
squeezed out between two moist cloths the excess of 
water, and given them with a quantity of humidity, 
as nearly the same they had when fresh, to the 
worms. It is proper to observe that fresh leaves 
seem to be such as nature intended for the worms, 
which at all times have a degree of natural moisture, 
though externally they may be either wet or dry. 
But we approve of dry leaves, though fresh as possi- 
ble, being given. It is better that they should be 
even a little wilted, than externally moist or wet. 
The experience of American culturists vary on this 
subject. It is more than probable that a degree of 
that care which may be really requisite in a climate 
not natural to the insect, is redundant in this country, 
which at all latitudes is isothermal with China, and 
consequently, the only one, perhaps, in the world, 
equally favourable to its exigencies. The leaves 
should be given after having lain a day in a cool 
place, thinly spread to prevent heating. In the anti- 
cipation of rainy weather, a supply for three days 
may be procured. Leaves taken from trees growing 
in moist soil and shady places are not proper. Over 
and under feeding may equally produce disease. The 
leaves after being pulled may be exposed to the sun 
a. few minutes, and then set in a dry place to 
cool. 

6. Diseases from improper change of food. 
Changing the leaves of the red for the white or other 
species of mulberry tree is sometimes detrimental, 

22* 



258 THE SILK WORM. 

or whenever this order is reversed. The leaves of 
different species or varieties of mulberries should not 
be given at the same time ; much less any leaf of in- 
ferior quality be administered within the last ages of 
feeding; since this would occasion derangement in 
the animal, imperfect spinning and inferior silk : ex- 
ceptions to this consequence are rare. 

7. Diseases from a peculiar constitution of the 
air. The eudiometer does not seem to be an instru- 
ment at all times adequate to detect the variable cir- 
cumstances that may disturb, the heterogeneous sub- 
stances held in solution that may enter, or the different 
states, greater or less rarefaction, that may affect the 
general constitution of atmospheric air, and conse- 
quently vegetable and animal life. Count Dandolo 
complained of the year 1814. The farmers in Eng- 
land will ever remember the year 1816. The farmer, 
the horticulturist, the orchardist, all complain of unfa- 
vourable seasons; and the medical man, or his patients, 
of endemical and epidemical times. And whether 
we have the influenza or the cholera, we lay the 
blame to the air, and demand of the meteorologist its 
component parts. His answer is ready, and he re- 
plies in three terms, and we are no wiser. But all 
this time a myriad evanescent things, hidden from eye, 
from ear, from sense, may be in operation. We know 
not what magnetic currents, what mundane plates 
of electricity, positive and negative, may be in play, 
high in aerial climes, but affecting below all animal 
and vegetable life. All that we can do, in cases that 
transcend all ordinary experience, is to use the pre- 
cautions already prescribed, or such of them as the 
variable circumstances of 'he season may require.* 



* The year 1816, was, in England, one of unprecedented rain and 
humidity. The rain began to fall, soon after the earth got warmed by 
the sun, and the evaporation was abundant. After this, the alternation 
between excessive evaporation from below, and torrents of continuous 
rain from above was incessant during the summer and a large part of 
the autumn. The farmer sought hedges or walls on which to dry his 
hay, for the ground was unfit. The reapers were in some places up to 



THE SILK WORM. 259 

8. Diseases from sudden changes of tempera- 
ture. We must ever remember that the insects, 
which we suppose to be now under our care, are 
tender, and of a delicate constitution ; and therefore 
we should be provided with every suitable means 
to correct any sudden, extraordinary or unexpected 
variation of temperature. And this care should be 
continued not only during their feeding, but also 
through their spinning season ; especially since the 
liquid gum in the secretor from which they spin, if 
the temperature be too low, congeals, and arrests, 
unless due warmth be immediately restored, the spin- 
ning process, and the silk in this case is lost. The 
directions already given, will on this point, and in this 
climate be sufficient. 

On the air, the quality of the food, and the degree 
of care and attendance which the caterpillar receives, 
through its several ages, and even during the fabrica- 
tion of its cocoon, depend the time it occupies in its 
respective changes, and the excellency of its silk. It 
has not been generally customary as yet to feed it 
through the night, but experience has proved that 
where night feeding has been attended to, the worms 
are stronger, the cocoons heavier, the silk superior, 
and the time shorter between the egg and the con- 
summation of its toil. 

Particular Diseases. The names ordinarily 
given to the diseases of silk worms, are not those em- 
ployed to signify the same in Lombardy, but those 
given in L'Abbe Rozier's Cour d'Agriculture, which 
is an excellent compendium of all written on silk 
worms by French authors. 

the ankles in mud to cut the wheat, and the sheaves, for want of sun 
to ripen, had to remain in the fields until the snow of an early winter 
began to cover them ! Who would not say, that had silk worms been 
rearing in such a climate and in such a season, that a Dandoliere, with 
all its apparatus of stoves and chimney-places, for sudden flash fires, and 
other corrections of excessive humidity, would have been desirable 1 In 
the same year (1816) there was almost no summer in the United 
States. Frost occurred in this state every month in the year save one, 
and the changeableness of the season was disastrous to vegetation. 



260 THE SILK WORM. 

1. The Passis. — This is a vague expression, and 
means little that is special, since it is derived from 
passus, that merely signifies suffering. Custom how- 
ever has arbitrarily applied it to signify in the insect 
a kind of marasmus, atrophy, or simple waste of 
muscular substance. This disease is known, 1st, 
from the yellow tinge of the worms ; 2d, from its 
lengthened spare shape and wrinkled skin ; 3d, from 
its sharp and stretched feet ; 4th, it eats little, lan- 
guishes, and is evidently in a state of atrophy. 

The cause is said to be an excess of heat main- 
tained during the dormant states, or convalescences 
immediately after the respective moultings, or to the 
length of time the worm is suffered to remain under 
the pressure of litter. The remedies are instant re- 
moval from the healthy worms to an apartment which 
is well ventilated, and where they can be distinctly 
attended to. They should have a due supply of ten- 
der leaves, a uniform temperature, but a little higher 
than that required by the worm in a state of health. 

2. The Grasserie, derived from the French gras, 
grasse, fat, full, &c. This disease generally appears 
towards the second moulting, rarely later, and is 
scarcely known in the fourth age. The symptoms 
are, 1st, they eat, but do not digest their food ; hence, 
2dly, they swell and become bloated ; 3d ly, their bodies 
become opaque and of a greenish colour ; 4th, the cir- 
cumference around their breathing apertures, become 
of a citron colour, or of a dirty white ; 5th, their skins 
tear from the least touch, and sometimes sponta- 
neously burst from over distension ; 6th, they are co- 
vered with a viscous, oily humour ; 7th, they appear 
disposed to obtain relief from distension to stretch 
their feet ; 8th, the acrid humour proceeding from it. 
The last stage of this disease is death to any worm 
with which it comes into contact. 

The causes are said by Mr. Nysten to be the too 
glutinous nature of the food given to the worm in its 
second and third ages ; by Mr. Roberts, the too sub- 
stantial food for the young worms, occasioning indi- 



THE SILK WORM. 261 

gestion ; by La Brousse, too abundant nourishment, 
badly regulated, or to the neglect of drying the 
leaves when wet by rain or dew, and to the lack of 
fresh air during the last changes of the worms. The 
remedies are, if not too late, 1. instant removal to a 
distinct room or place ; 2. lessen the quantity of 
nourishment ; 3. give the thin leaves of the wild, or 
of some inferior mulberry ; and 4. ventilation and 
moderate temperature. 

3. Luisette, from luire to shine. There are but 
few worms attacked by this disease, which seldom 
appears till after the fourth moulting, or fifth age. 
The symptoms are l.the luisettes, or shiners, feed and 
grow like others, except in thickness ; 2. their colour, 
first of a clear red, soon changes to a dirty white ; 
3. if attentively observed, it will be seen to drop a 
viscous humour from its silk tubes ; 4. their body 
becomes transparent, which has occasioned the name 
of the luisette or glow worm. 

Causes. On being opened, their stomach has been 
found empty, except of a glairy transparent fluid, 
which has led to the inference that this malady is 
occasioned by negligence in feeding, or by a partial 
supply of food ; a theory since proved by M. Nys- 
ten,* who produced the disease by starving some 
worms for twenty-four hours. 

Remedy. The translator of Count Dandolo, and 
M. la Brousse prescribe a short remedy, viz. " throw 
them away." Others have either more patience or 
more mercy, and advise 1. instant removal; 2. a 
supply of food, gradually , not suddenly increased, 
until perfect restoration. 

4. The Yellows is the name of a disease that ap- 
pears about the fifth age, when the worms are filled 
with a silky fluid, and are about to spin. 

Symptoms. 1. The body swells, and the enlarge- 
ment of the rings gives to the feet an appearance of 
being drawn up from the tumescence of the adjacent 

* Recherches sur le Maladies des vers a soie, par P. H. Nysten, Paris, 
1808. Des Vers a Soie, par M. Reynard, Paris, 1824. 



262 THE SILK WORM. 

parts ; 2. the worm acquires a yellow colour ; 3. they 
cease to eat, and run about, leaving stains of a yellow 
fluid ; 4. the yellowness first appears around the spi- 
racula, and is thence diffused over the externa] sur- 
face ; 5. the insects soon become soft, and burst ; 6. 
the morbid humour issuing from them is fatal to the 
worm that touches it. 

Causes. The Abbe Sauvage ascribes this affection 
to sudden exposures to great heat. It is also else- 
where imputed by him to indigestible food, and 
exposure to the influence of rainy or moist weather. 
It is said also to be an anasarca, or dropsy of the 
skin, arising from a defect in the absorbent vessels of 
its system. 

Remedy. 1. Instant removal, as on all similar 
occasions; 2. ventilation or a change of air, assisted 
by fires if necessary ; 3. in two cases, oak leaves 
were given, with success. 

5. The Muscardine, or numbness. This disease 
appears in the fifth age. 

Symptoms. 1. Black spots appear in different 
parts ; 2. they next become yellow, and finally red, 
or of the colour of cinnamon, which is diffused over 
the whole body; 3. The worm becomes hard and 
dry, and covered ultimately with a white mould. 

Cause. 1. A continuance of a hot, dry, and close 
air. 

Remedies. 1. Removal; 2. purify the air by re- 
peated fumigations ; 3. and promote an active circu- 
lation in its current, by ventilation. 

6. The Tripes, or mort blanc. We are informed 
that M. Rigaud de Lisle, inhabitant of Crest, first 
discovered this to be a disiinct disorder. Symptoms, 
the worms become flaccid and soft. When dead, 
they preserve a fresh and healthy appearance, and 
on being touched, they feel, it is said, like tripe: 
hence the name. 

Cause. The disease appearing chiefly during 
most or rainy weather ; and M. Nysten's experi- 
mental proof that it may be produced from the vapid 



THE SILK WORM. 263 

exhalations from the litter of an nncleansed cocoonery, 
sufficiently indicate that an excess of moisture, held 
in mechanical diffusion in the atmosphere, is incom- 
patible with the health of the insect. 

Remedies. 1. Instant removal as before ; 2. dry 
the air of the infirmary apartment by sudden flash 
fires, under chimneys provided for the purpose, and 
keep up the warmth and dryness of the room by 
continuous fires in stoves at a proper temperature.* 

Though it is necessary in a work of this kind to 
mention the diseases that occur through either negli- 
gence or mismanagement, yet we may rest assured 
that if only the cautions and treatment prescribed in 
this work, suited to the several stages of our insect 
colony, be observed, the worms of our establishment, 
however numerous, will be preserved in perfect 
health. Ofivorms, through negligence, the French, 
M. Beauvais informs us, formerly lost fifty per 
cent. ; whilst the Chinese, bringing their experience 
of 4000 years to bear on their charge, scarcely 
lose one per cent. ! This difference carried out into 
the million, is 490,000 worms ; or a difference in 
silk of 163 pounds, worth $S15: sufficient to show 
the value of the timely care and vigilant attention of 
our five weeks' services, for which the little generous 
animals will pay us so liberally.! 

* The discovery of and remedy for this disease has been ascribed to 
Mr. G. B. Smith, of Baltimore. How long a time has elapsed since the 
discovery, we know not ; but we find the remedy recommended in 
Lardner and others, and it was probably known from ten to fifteen 
years ago at least. The chloride of lime, as a fumigator and purifier, has 
been known since its first discovery, and the application of such a 
chemical preparation, publicly known to possess such properties, is a 
discovery which would have suggested itself to every one requiring its 
aid. The disease itself may have been first pointed out by the very 
respectable gentleman above named. But the remedy claimed for Mr. 
Smith has been known to others, at a prior date, and has been men- 
tioned by Lardner at least, without knowing that such suggestions had 
been followed elsewhere. Vide Lardner, 133. 

j- Besides the diseases commonly mentioned by writers in this coun- 
try, the following, which are evidently distinct morbid affections, are 
also described by Italian and French authors. 

7. The Scarlet. This disease is so called from the more or less 



264 THE SILK WORM. 

Enemies to Silk Worms. The enemies of silk 
worms are sparrows, sivalloivs, robbins, the titmouse, 
and poultry. Care must therefore be taken to ex- 
clude them, by keeping, when necessary, the win- 
dark red colour which the skin of the silk worm assumes when issuing 
from the egg. The worms attacked by this disorder seem cramped, stu- 
pified, and suffocated. Their rings dry up, and they look exactly like 
mummies. The red colour then becomes ashy and white. This disor- 
der does not always kill the worm in the first moulting, nor yet in the 
second ; and sometimes, they do not die until after the fourth moulting. 
When, if they live so long, it becomes more difficult to distinguish them, 
as their colour becomes less dark, and cannot be so easily separated 
from the healthy, since they might be mistaken by the most practised 
eye. They will even weave cocoons, which are good for nothing, called 
cafignons, from being soft and ill-woven. 

8. The Dragees. This is not properly a disease of the silk worm, 
since the cocoon is already formed, when it is called a dragee. A dragee 
cocoon does not contain a chrysalis, but a worm short and white, like a 
sugar plum: hence it has been also called the white comfit. If the 
worm, after having made the cocoon, has not been able to change into a 
chrysalis, it is a proof that, in that state, it was sick. But it is not likely 
that a disease that never occurs except in a chamber hermetically sealed 
from all observation, can be accurately defined by the J ucidty that attend 
on silk worms or on any other kind of patients. In Europe, whole 
broods have been found, of which nearly all the cocoons are affected 
with the dragee. This, however, except as to the egga, is not a loss, 
for the cocoons are unimpaired in quality. As an article of sale, they 
are undervalued, but the proprietor that reels himself, finds them as pro- 
fitable, both as to quantity and quality, as any other cocoons. A dragee 
cocoon is known by' shaking it, when the sound resulting from a dried 
substance may be perceived. 

9. The Calcinaccio. " Calcination" says M. Dandolo, " is not a 
disease observed in any other species of worm, not even in the caterpil- 
lars that live in the open air ; which evidently proves that it proceeds 
from bad management. This disease is the result of certain chemical com- 
binations, which may decompose the component substance of the silk worm 
at any period of its existence. The causes which produce it are such, 
that sometimes it will declare itself rapidly, or sometimes it will remain 
dormant until the moment of rising on the hedge, and even when it 
has formed the cocoon. It becomes general in a laboratory, or is partial, 
according as the chemical element that produces it is spread or confined 
to peculiar parts ; but it is never contagious. A worm having died by 
calcination, put in contact with a healthy worm, will in no degree affect 
it." M. Decapitani having publicly asserted that calcination was the 
result of catarrhal affection, the count, in 18 IS, entered into a series of 
ten experiments, which successfully proved the error of the hypothesis 
of M. Decapitani. 

10. The Gattine. By Gattina (Ital.) or Gattine {French) is gene- 



THE SILK WORM. 265 

dows closed. Besides these, such vermin as mice, 
rats, weasels, lizards, ants, and spiders, are to be ca- 
talogued as enemies. The last are said to make the 
most active war against silk worms. Spider webs 
ought, therefore, to be carefully cleared away, and all 
possible precautions should be taken against the other 
enemies that beset them. To prevent the attack of 
ants, or other creeping insects, the posts supporting 
the fixed shelves, or any part of the frames, ought 
not to touch either the ceiling or the walls ; and the 
legs of the posts ought to be smeared with molasses, 
or placed in basins of wa*ter, where ants are known 
to harbour : both these methods would be a more 
secure preventive. Vermin of other kinds, as mice, 
rats, etc., must be trapped and killed in the usual 
way. 

Statistics relative to silk worm eggs and space 
requisite for feeding. Whether we are about to com- 
mence the silk culture on the small or large scale, 
it is of importance to know how many silk worms, at 
least on the average, we may expect from an ounce 
of eggs. But here as usual, instead of having any 
thing like certainty and precision, in what may be 
considered to be an element in statistical calculation 
on this subject, we have by the irreconcilable state- 
ments of all that have written on this topic, for at least 
the last twenty years, all that sort of obscurity which 
may be conceived to arise from the twofold source of 
error, discrepancy and ambiguity. We have before 

rally understood a worm that cannot accomplish the functions of nature to 
which it is destined according to the degree of change that it has expe- 
rienced. This disease is indicated by restlessness, seeking seclusion, 
loss of appetite ; though some eat well, live through several ages, and 
then, from instinctive desire of separation, die off the tray, or on the edge 
of it, but not on the litter, unless attacked by the disease suddenly, and 
have no strength to retreat. 

The causes assigned by Count Dandolo and Morin, are, 1. Injury as 
to the eggs, from error in the preservation, hatching, removal, or carriage; 
2. Subsequent negligence as to temperature, air, or food. " There can- 
not exist disease," says the count, " when the egg is well impregnated, 
well preserved, and the silk worm well attended to." No remedies, ex- 
cept the preventive, have as yet been prescribed for this malady. 

23 



266 THE SILK WORM. 

us statements relative to the number of eggs in an 
ounce, that vacillate at all points between the two ex- 
tremes of 42,000 and 20,000 per ounce; and others 
condescend not even to say whether, by the number 
they quote, they mean simply the eggs, or the num- 
ber of worms we may expect from an ounce, or the 
number at the hatch that will weigh an ounce. 

All, however, in this, whether Italian, French, Ger- 
,man, English or American writers, seem to follow 
Count Dandolo. Notwithstanding the count's very 
venial but yet evident eccentricities, wherein he has 
carried the favourite pursuit of his life beyond the 
" est modus in rebus," yet is he to this day, in several 
points relative to silk culture, the facile princeps. 
Had any one or two of the numerous copyists that 
have followed in his wake, exemplified the same in- 
defatigable patience in minute investigation, all incer- 
titude on this, and on certain other points, would have 
been at an end ; since, thus, in the mouth of two or 
three witnesses, not copyists, every thing had been 
established. 

Of those that have stated 42,000, 40,000, 35,000, 
30,000, 29,000, 22,640, and 20,000, to the ounce, we 
could quote the principal and most popular authors 
that have written on this subject within the last 
twenty years, in this country, or in Europe. The 
42,000 is a number that is some second edition of 
Dandolo's statement of 42,260 eggs to the ounce of 
his little worms, of three moultings, and therefore has 
nothing to do with the calculation. The 40,000 is 
the convenient echo in round numbers of the count's 
discovery that 39,168 eggs of the common silk worm 
weigh one ounce. This and all the rest, however 
modified, by taking oft' one-third for, as we are told, 
presumed loss, or for other reasons, are evidently de- 
rived, seldom with acknowledgment, but without 
any thing independent, anything new on the subject. 

The whole, therefore, whether Italian, French, Ger- 
man, English or American writers, on this point, being 
plainly convicted, on the prima facie evidence of the 



THE SILK WORM. 267 

trial, of a second-hand character, we shall repair at 
once to our Pythagoras, not with servile obsequious- 
ness "jurare in verba magistri" nor to echo an 
"ipse dixit" but to institute an inquiry, relative to a 
point in silk culture, which may be considered as an 
element, and, therefore, important in statistical calcu- 
lation. 

The count says,* " to make one ounce of picked 
eggs, there should be, for an average weight, 39,168 
eggs. I observed with some surprise, that there was 
little difference in the weight of eggs belonging to 
above twenty persons." Dandolo, therefore, had as- 
certained this fact by at least twenty distinct trials ! 
Where have we another example of patient investiga- 
tion equal to this ? Not one ! So easy is it to copy, 
or to quote the words of another as our doctrine ; so 
difficult to be original. The count adds, 

" I have had the patience to count many hundred 
thousand eggs, in hopes that it might be useful," (true 
patriotism exercised in that whence least expected; 
"in tcnui labor,") "in the art of rearing silk worms. 
The best eggs when weighed afforded no more than 
sixty-eight eggs per grain.t And the inferior quality 
of eggs did not afford more than seventy eggs per 
grain." He afterwards adds, "one ounce is com- 
posed of 576 grains." 

But what is to be inferred from this ? The count 
lived at Varese% near Milan in Lombardy, a region 
where both the number of grains in a pound, and the 
grain itself as weighed by any standard unit is con- 
stantly shifting every fifty or sixty miles. In Florence 

* P. 73 and 74. 

j- This would be equivalent to seventy-three to the English grain. 

\ Count Dandolo made those experiments on his estate, Varese, near 
Milan, where he opened a real school for the silk culture, and where he 
gathered around him some young men, to whom he read lectures on this 
art. The count died of apoplexy on the 12th of December, 1819. His 
laboratory still exists at Varese, and had been imitated in several places. 
It is indeed a perfect model. The Italians call these laboratories, Dan- 
didierex, from gratitude to the person through whose instruction the 
crops of silk have increased (enfold in Italy, and who has secured to his 
country an abundant source of wealth." Count de Hazzi. 



268 THE SILK WORM. 

the pound is equal to 5286* grains English ; the 
pound at Genoa to 4426 ; at Naples to 4952 ; at 
Rome to 5257 ; at Turin to 4940 ; and at Venice they 
use two pounds, the greater and the less; one of 
6S26, and the other of 4215 English grains. But we 
are nowhere accurately informed what the natives of 
these places respectively term a grain, nor how many, 
in each case, they reckon either to the pound or ounce. 
The number of grains, 576, in Dandolo's ounce being 
one-tenth of 5760, the number of English grains in a 
pound troy, added to a vague report from the neigh- 
bourhood of Naples, either that an Italian pound 
consists often Italian ounces, or is equal to ten Eng- 
lish ounces, has led some to conjecture that Dandolo's 
ounce was equal to one-tenth of a pound troy. But 
since the 576 grains quoted by him are no aliquot 
part, neither tenth nor twelfth at least of any one, on 
the list now before us of the sixty-five European 
pounds, whose quantities are expressed in English 
grains, it is sufficiently evident, that we are to under- 
stand 576 Italian not English grains. The count, 
however, has elsewhere informed us that the Milan 
pound consists of twelve ounces, and consequently of 
6912 Milanese grains, and that twenty -eight ounces 
of Milan are equivalent to about twenty-five French 
ounces; without however stating of what French 
pound.t Dr. Lardner, however, without quoting 
authority, undertakes to decide that 533 Milanese 
grains are equal to one ounce avoirdupois. That is, 
39,168 silk worm eggs weigh 576 Milanese grains: 
therefore, at the same rate, 36,244 are in weight equal 

* Though no notice is taken in avoirdupois tables of any denomina- 
tion lower than a drachm ; yet an avoirdupois pound is equal to 7000 
grains ; and no grain is used in English weights but that in troy and 
apothecaries weights, which are the same. Of these the pound troy 
contains 5760 ; the ounce troy 480, and the ounce avoirdupois 4-37j. 

j- The following list will be sufficient to show the necessity of being 
special in quoting foreign weights or measures, when that of a single 
nation can shift into shapes as many as those of the Protean god. The 
pound of Avignon is equal to 6217 English grains: of Bordeaux to 
7460 ; of Lisle to 6544 ; of Marseilles to 6041 ; of Montpelier to 6217; 



THE SILK WORM. 269 

to our avoirdupois ounce of 437i grains. We are not 
warranted, therefore, making some deduction for loss, 
to quote more than 35,000 eggs to the English avoir- 
dupois ounce. 

Mr. Roberts, to make allowance for a possible loss 
of one-third, or thirty-three per cent., gives 20,000 to 
the ounce. Here then is meant, eggs that succeed in 
the hatch, which evidently agrees, accounting for the 
deduction, with the statement we have given. But 
we see no need for loss to any such extent, since the 
Chinese can boast that their loss exceeds not one per 
cent.* 

We cannot here omit to mention another interesting 
discovery, relative to the eggs of the silk worm, that 
did not escape the vigilance of Dandolo. He found 
that 576 grains, or one Milanese ounce of eggs, lost 
on being brought into the store room, in order to 
hatching, or at the temperature of 64°, forty-seven 
grains by evaporation ; and that the shells or husks, 
after hatching weighed 116 grains. Hence, 163 
grains deducted from 576, leave the weight of the 
39,168 worms immediately after hatchment to be 
413 grains. " At this rate," says he, " 54,526 young 
worms are required to form the weight of one ounce," 

the silk pound of Lyons to 6946, the common to 6431 ; of Nancy to 
7038 ; of Rouen to 7772; of Toulouse to 6323 ; and of Paris to 7561. 
Neither the hecatogramme, nor the chiliogramme of the French Na- 
tional Institute is, in quantity, any thing near to one pound. We are 
informed, it is true, that the Milan pound is equal to 5400 French 
grains, which are equal to 4430 English grains, or 369 English grains 
to the Milanese ounce ; but this would give the doubtful result of 46,439 
silk worm eggs to the avoirdupois ounce. 

* We take this opportunity to advise every future and ingenious cul- 
turist to provide himself with a set of apothecaries weights and scales. 
He will find it useful for many domestic purposes. It will contain the 
following weights: of grains, from the half grain to six grains; the half 
scruple equal to ten grains ; the scruple twenty grains ; two scruples or 
forty grains ; the drachm sixty grains, eight of which are equal to one 
ounce troy or apothecaries, or 480 grains ; and the two drachm weight. 
Let him by repeated trials find the number of eggs that weigh five 
grains, and multiply the number by eighty-seven and a half; he will 
then have the number of eggs weighing an avoirdupois ounce of 437£ 
grains. 

23* 



270 THE SILK WORM. 

i. e. Milanese ounce of 576 grains, equal to 533 Eng- 

54526 x 533 
lish grains. Hence — ~~ SyB = 50,548 newly- 
hatched worms ; which are equal to ounce avoirdu- 
pois. 

The Count, besides informing us that it requires 
immediately after hatching 54,626 young worms to 
weigh an ounce, also states, that after the first moult- 
ing, " 3840 are sufficient to make up that weight ; 
and that the worm, therefore, has increased in six 
days, fourteen times its own weight:" that after the 
second moulting 610 will form this weight ; or that it 
has increased its average weight sixfold; that at the 
end of the third moulting, 144 worms weigh an 
ounce, implying an increase more than fourfold; 
that at the end of the fourth moulting, only thirty- 
five are requisite to the ounce, proving again & four- 
fold increase ; and that at the close of the fifth moult- 
ing even six silk worms weigh the same as 54,526 
immediately after hatching, nearly an increase of six 
times their size in the preceding age ; or an entire in- 
crease in ail of 9000 times from the first commence- 
ment of the larva state. From these premises, it 
must necessarily follow that one English ounce of 
worms immediately after hatching, will, on the sup- 
position that none are lost, weigh 9000 ounces at 
mounting to spin the cocoon ; or 5 cwts. qrs. 2 lbs. 
8 oz. for every ounce of worms ! !* 

The whole of the history of this little insect, is to 
the naturalist too interesting, and to the culturist too 
important, to allow any thing of a statistical charac- 
ter to pass unobserved. We have already remarked, 
that according to the calculation of Count Dandolo, 
these almost microscopic animalculse require, imme- 
diately after the hatch, 54,626 to weigh one ounce; 
but at the end of the first age 3840 worms ; at the end 
of the second 610 ; at the end of the third 144; at the 
end of the fourth 35 ; and at the end of the fifth only six 

* See Lardner, p. 105, und Dandolo, passim. 



THE SILK WORM. 271 

are required to weigh one ounce. These numbers, 
however, are respectively adapted to the Milan ounce 
of 576 Milanese grains ; to 533 of which, one avoir- 
dupois ounce of 437*5 English grains, is equal; to 
which if the above numbers and ratios are reduced, 
they will stand as follows: 

Immediately after hatching, it will require 50,548 
silk worm larvae to weigh one English avoirdupois 
ounce ; at the end of the first age 3553, when the 
ratio of increase in weight is more than fourteen times 
the first state of the larva ; at the end of the second 
age, 564, the ratio of increase exceeding six times the 
weight at the end of the first age ; at the end of the 
third age, 133, the ratio on the maximum weight of the 
preceding age being more than quadruple; at the end 
of the fourth age, thirty-two, the ratio being more than 
four ; at the end of the fifth age, 5,552, or little more 
than five and a half worms, if well fed, will weigh one 
English avoirdupois ounce, the ratio of increase ex- 
ceeding that of the quintuple on the former state of 
existence. But the whole ratio of increase from the 
hatchment to the full size of the last age, will be 
9088; or, in round numbers, a single ounce of the 
insects, each of which at the hatch weighed less than 
nine one-thousandth parts of a grain, in less than 
five iveeks, will weigh more than 9000 ounces ! ! ! That 
is, a single worm will at the following specified stages 
of its existence weigh respectively as stated below. 

English Grains. 

At the hatch one worm will weigh '00865 

At the end of the 1st age it will weigh "12313 

2d -77570 

3d 3-28947 

4th 13-67187 

5th 78-86023 

or 9000 times its first weight ! 

But how does a unit of any dimensions become in 
five weeks 9000 such units ? Here we cannot but re- 
member that the leaves of the mulberry, by insect- 
chemistry, are marvellously converted, 1st, into a 
worm : 2dly, into a silken cocoon : then 3dly, by art 



272 THE SILK WORM. 

into raw silk, and lastly into fabrics finer than which 
nothing can adorn the persons of emperors or queens, 
nor embellish their palaces and thrones. During the 
five weeks, one worm has consumed, on the average, 
about 340 grains, or twelve drachms eleven grains 
avoirdupois of leaves; more than three-fourths of 
which have evidently passed off by the pores and 
other emunctories; and there remain of the 340 grains, 
seventy-eight and forty-three fiftieths* grains, trans- 
formed into the substance of the worm. 

The whole of this statement deduced from Count 
Dandolo, is, however, somewhat at variance with 
what he has himself taught us in the latter part of his 
volume. t He there observes that 360 worms pro- 
duce, on the average, one pound and a half of co- 
coons, and that the silk worms proceeding from five 
ounces of eggs will yield 600 pounds of cocoons. 
Hence it is evident,} that his calculations all through, 
are for 144,000 surviving worms from five ounces 
of eggs ; and not for 200,000, as some, calculating on 
40,000 worms from each of the five ounces, have 
supposed. But this 144,000 from five Milanese 
ounces are only equal to 133,250§ worms from five 
English avoirdupois ounces; or to 26,650 s urviving 
worms from each avoirdupois ounce. If Mr. Roberts 
calculates only for 100,000 surviving worms from 
five ounces of eggs, or 20,000 from one, the difference 
of 33,250 is between him and the count, in favour, 
however, of the latter; or rather in favour of the 
count's argus-eyed vigilance and care, and of the 
superiority of the dandoliere and its almost self- 
regulating correctives, over that of the comparatively 
chance-helmed cocoonery. That difference, how- 

* 27'34375 grains are equal to an avoirdupois drachm ; but sixty 
grains to a drachm apothecaries, eight of which make an ounce of apothe- 
caries, or troy weight. 

f Page 195, et seq. 

* 360X600 



1-5 
§ 144000x533 
576 



= 144.000. 

= 133,250. 



THE SILK WORM. 273 

ever, is one of thirty-three per cent., in favour of 
the Italian patriot in silk culture. It follows that 
when our zeal, our enthusiasm, are equal to those of 
the indefatigable Dandolo, we shall have 26,650 sur- 
viving insect artisans from every ounce of eggs ; or 
26,650 that live to the cocoon out of every 36,244 
originally in the shell. 

But the 133,250 survivors from five ounces of eggs, 
would at the moment of becoming larvae, weigh only 
2 ounces, 10*177 drachms avoirdupois.* To trace 
now with accuracy the actual increase in weight from 
the incipient larva to the completion of the fifth age, 
and then the decrease in insect substance, and vege- 
table consumption, to the cocoon, we refer once more 
to our most assiduous experimentalist. At page 195 
he observes, " the result of my experiments proves 
that 360 silk worms,which produce about one pound 
and a half of cocoons, weigh, when at their highest 
growth and size, three pounds, three ounces and a 
half. The silk worms, after this, are ready, in the 
course of two or three days, to begin their cocoons, 
and then weigh only about two pounds! seven ounces. 
When the silk worms begin to rise, they void a quan- 
tity of nearly pure water, part of which is sometimes 
discharged through the silk-drawing tubes, and by 
transpiration. They also evacuate a small quantity 
of solid substance, and then form the cocoon in three 
or four days : these cocoons altogether weigh about 
one pound and a half. Let us now imagine a labo- 
ratory calculated to contain the silk worms proceeding 

* 1x133250 in \ w , t, 

— — — =2 ounces 10-177 drachms. 

50548 
| Some discrepancy either in the original translation or type is evi- 
dent throughout the whole of this statement ; for here two pounds, seven 
ounces, are made equal to the forty-two ounces mentioned a few lines af- 
terwards. Again, notwithstanding that in the appendix we are told that 
twelve ounces make the Milanese pound, it is evident here, that all the 
count's reckoning is by some pound of sixteen ounces ; since 

^ — — j- — i_^ =3 lbs. 3 J oz. which agrees with his statement ; 

1050X 16 
whilst twelve ounces to the pound do not. 



274 THE SILK WORM. 

from five ounces of eggs, and sufficient to produce 
about six quintals* of cocoons ; the following will 
offer the result. If 360 silk worms weigh three 
pounds, three ounces and a half, when in their utmost 
growth and perfection, it must clearly appear that the 
whole of the silk worms of the laboratory, which pro- 
duce 600 pounds of cocoons, will weigh 1,285 pounds, 
three ounces, when they reach their utmost growth. 
And if the 360 silk worms, previous to beginning 
their cocoons, only weigh forty-two ounces, it must 
appear equally clear, that the whole of the silk worms 
of the laboratory will be about ten quintals, fifty 
pounds. And therefore, in three days, the silk worms 
must have lost 237^* pounds weight of substance, 
either solid or liquid, from exhalation or steam. 
And if after two or three days, the silk worms that 
are reduced to ten quintals and fifty pounds weight, 
are changed into 600 pounds of cocoons ; it is evident 
that in three or four days, they must have lost 450 
pounds weight of substance either in liquid, vapour, 
or gas. In the space of six or seven days, therefore, 
the bodies of the insects requisite to produce only 600 
pounds of cocoons, must have lost 700 pounds in 
weight and substance. This astonishing quantity 
excreted from the bodies of the worms in so short a 
time, is of greater weight than the total weight of the 
cocoons and aurelias, which only weigh 600 
pounds." 

By an attentive investigation of the preceding 
statements of Count Dandolo, it will be sufficiently 
evident that he is calculating by the poids de marc 
of Charlemagne, equal to 7561 English troy grains. 
Consequently, the 144,000 surviving worms of the 
laboratory, to which his calculations refer, and which 
he says at their maximum size weigh 1285 lbs. 3 oz. 
weigh 9,717,301 English grains; or 67*48 grains 
each. And the 50,548 larvae that immediately at the 

* A quintal is equal to 100 pounds. 

+ (1285 lbs. 3 oz.— 1050) = 235 lbs. 3 oz. and not 237£ lbs. 



THE SILK WORM. 275 

hatch weighed one ounce, will at their maximum 
size weigh 4 cwt. 1 qr. 11 lbs. 4 oz. 10 dr. 17^ grains ; 
that is, one ounce of worms at the hatch, if well fed, 
will in five weeks weigh 487 lbs. 4 oz. 10 drachms, 
17^ grains ! ! We prefer this result to the former ; 
the premises of which are comparatively vague and 
approximate. 

But if the calculation be referred to the count's 
144,000 surviving silk worms that were originally 
five Milanese ounces in the shell, and 1285 pounds, 
three ounces of the same weight at their maximum 
size, and finally only 600 Milan pounds in the cocoon, 
and we find that they have consumed in their growth, 
according to the same authority, 7520 Milan pounds, 
of the white mulberry leaves, it is evident that nearly 
Jive-sixths of the entire quantity of food consumed 
by these insects have passed off by evaporation and 
otherwise before they attain their maximum size, and 
more than eleven-twelfths before the completion of 
the cocoon. Here are, therefore, eleven-twelfths, at 
least, or 6886 lbs. of the 7520 lbs. that must pass off 
by evaporation, ventilation, or in litter, before we have 
the consummation of the laboratory in cocoons. " It 
is scarcely credible," says Dandolo, " that the bodies 
of the silk worm should yield so much noxious mat- 
ter in a few days, were it not demonstrated by posi- 
tive facts. It is needless to remark how much this 
large body of exhalation, were it stagnant in the 
laboratory, might in the latter days generate disor- 
ders, and cause great mortality at the very moment 
when the abundant crop of cocoons was confidently 
expected. We must, therefore, deeply feel the neces- 
sity of attentively following the prescribed directions 
for avoiding this evil/' 

This is more minutely and clearly stated by the 
count in a calculation that he afterwards enters into 
for a single ounce. " The result of the most exact 
calculation is, that the quantity of leaves drawn from 
the trees, employed for each ounce of eggs, amounts 



276 THE SILK WORM. 

to one thousand, six hundred and nine pounds, eight 
ounces, divided in the following manner. 

Sorted leaves. Refuse picked Loss by evaporation &c. 

from the leaves. during the whole period 
lbs. lbs. oz. of picking. 

1st age 6 1 8 lbs. oz. 

2d 18 3 105 

3d 60 9 

4th.... 180 27 142 8 

5th 1098 102 1362 

1362 142 8 1609 8 



Relative to the refuse to be picked from the leaves, 
he observes : " Great care must be taken in picking 
and sorting the leaves for the feeding of the worms 
of the first ages, such as picking off all twigs, stalks, 
spots, &c; and to clear them as much as possible from 
all useless parts. This operation is most essential in 
the two first ages, when the leaves are to be chopped 
very small. In the third age, the sorting and picking 
is not of so much consequence, and still less so in the 
subsequent ages. The sorting and picking is of im- 
portance, inasmuch as it enables you to put fifteen or 
twenty per cent, less substance on the shelves, than 
would otherwise be done, which the worms do not 
eat. This substance increases the litter and the mois- 
ture, without necessity or motive. In the two last 
ages, leaves mixed with a quantity of boughs and 
stalks may be put on the hurdles, although it is known 
that the worms do not eat them; because at that 
period it would be too troublesome to sort so large a 
quantity perfectly, nor is there the same motive to do 
so. These substances being by this time grown large, 
hard and woody, are less liable to fermentation, al- 
though they may accumulate as litter. 

It has been observed that the leaves distributed on 
the hurdles per ounce of eggs were 1362 lbs. During 
the life of the silk worms there has been carried away 
from the hurdles, 



THE SILK WORM. 277 

In gross litter. Of which in fecal substance 

existed 
lbs. oz. dr. lbs. oz. dr. 

In the 1st age 1 4 1 4 

— 2d 4 8 1 3 

— 3d 19 8 3 9 4 

— 4th 60 18 9 4 

— 5th 660 132 



745 8 155 7 4 



Deducting 155 lbs. 7 oz. 4 drs. from 745 lbs. 8 oz., 
there will remain 590 lbs. 4 drs. of vegetable substance; 
namely, in stalks, fruit, fragments, &c. not eaten by the 
worms; and subtracting the 590 lbs. 4 drs. from 1362 
lbs. that had been laid on the hurdles, it will appear 
that the worms have only really consumed 771 lbs. 
7 oz. 4 drs. of pure leaves. From which statement it 
ensues, 

1. That to obtain a pound and a half of cocoons, it 
requires about 20 lbs. 4 oz. of leaves, as gathered from 
the trees; and that it requires 1609 lbs. 8 oz. to ob- 
tain 120 lbs. of cocoons .which an ounce of eggs should 
yield. 

2. That this quantity of leaves gathered from the 
tree, deducting 142 lbs. 8 oz. of refuse and sorting, 
and 105 of decrease, by means of evaporation, it only 
requires 16 lbs. 8 oz. of pure leaf per lb. of cocoons, 
or 1362 lbs. for 120 lbs. of cocoons. 

3. That subtracting from the 1362 lbs. the 590 lbs. 
4 drs. of residue, such as branches, stalks, fruit, &c. 
which were taken off the hurdles with the litter, 9| lbs. 
of pure leaf have been sufficient to obtain 1^ lbs. 
of cocoons; and consequently 771 lbs. of leaves 
effectually eaten have sufficed to obtain 120 lbs. of 
cocoons. 

4. That the 1362 lbs. of leaves distributed on the 
hurdles, having only yielded 745 lbs. 12 oz. of gross 
litter, and 120 lbs. cocoons, in all making 865 lbs. 12 
oz. ; there is a loss escaped in gas, vapour and steam 
in the laboratory of 496 lbs. 4 oz. 

24 



278 THE SILK WORM. 

5. That in a laboratory containing the worms pro- 
ceeding from 5 oz. of eggs, there must have escaped 
on each of the last six days of the fifth age, 300 or 
450 lbs. of gas and vapour, invisibly to the eye. 

These latter statements present strong evidence 
how formidable the enemies are which assail the 
laboratory, and the need of ventilation. 

It is considered astonishing that one single worm, 
which, when first hatched, only weighs the hundredth 
part of a grain, should consume, in about thirty days, 
above an ounce of leaves ; that is to say, that it de- 
vours in vegetable substance about 60,000 times its 
primitive weight. 

Facts relative to the increase and decrease of silk worms in weight 
and size. 

Progressive Increase. grs. 

100 worms just hatched weigh 1 

After the 1st moulting 15 

— 2d 94 

— 3d 400 

— 4th 1628 

On attaining the greatest size 9500 

Thus have they, within five weeks, increased 9500 times their primi- 
tive weight. 

Progressive Decrease. grs. 

100 silk worms, when arrived at the highest 1 776O 

state of maturity, size, and perfection, weigh 5 

100 chrysalides weigh 3900 

100 female moths weigh 2990 

100 male moths weigh 1700 

100 female moths, after depositing eggs 980 

100 female moths dying naturally, after having ~} 3 ™ 

laid the eggs, and nearly quite dried 5 

Space Statistics. Animals that increase so ra- 
pidly in weight, must also increase in size. The 
infant worm, at the moment it ceases to be an em- 
bryo, is only one line, (one-twelfth of an inch,) in 
length : or its length through its successive periods 
may be thus stated : 



THE SILK WORM. 279 

lines. inch. 
The length of the silk worm when just hatched is equal to 1 = JL 
After the 1st moulting its length is 4 = a 

— 2d 6=| 

— 3d 12= 1 

— 4th 20 = If 

— 5th 40 — 3i 

The length of the silk worm is thus increased forty 
times within five weeks. But its length, from the 
period of the largest growth until it changes into the 
chrysalis, diminishes about two-fifths. 

The increase, however, in bulk of the silk worm, 
throughout its progressive ages, is a matter of prac- 
tical consequence. All writers on this topic, except 
Mr. Strong, seem agreed, jurare in verba magistri, 
to follow Dandolo. The latter says, the worms pro- 
ceeding from one ounce of eggs, should have a space — 

ft. in. 

In the 1 st age of. 7 4 square. 

— 2d 14 8 — 

— 3d 34 6 — 

— 4th 82 6 — 

— 5th 183 4 — 

Dr. Lardner increases a little these dimensions. 
But as, in a case of this nature, too much rather than 
too little, is the better error of the two, by merely 
rejecting the fraction, and taking the next greater 
integer, we furnish the following table, adapted to 
any quantity of worms, proceeding from one ounce 
to ten ounces. 



Ages. 


Feet square requisite on the shelves, for worms proceeding 
from 


One 
Ounce. 


Two 

Ounces. 


Three 
Ounces. 


Four 
Ounces. 


Five 

Ounces. 


Six 
Ounces. 


Seven 
Ounces. 


Eight 
Ounces. 


Nine 
Ounces. 


Ten 
Ounces. 


1 


8 


16 


24 


32 


40 


48 


56 


64 


72 


80 


2 


15 


30 


45 


60 


75 


90 


105 


120 


135 


150 


3 


35 


70 


105 


140 


175 


210 


245 


280 


315 


350 


4 


83 


166 


249 j 332 


415 


498 


581 


664 


747 


830 


5 


184 


368 


552 ' 736 


920 


1104 


12881472 


1656 


1840 



280 



THE SILK WORM. 



Mr. Strong of Germantown, from an experiment 
with five ounces, furnishes from the seventh to the 
thirty-third day, the following statement, by quoting 
the number of hurdles requisite each twelve square 
feet. 



Days. Hurdles. 

7 11^ 

8 13 

9 13 

10 13 

11.. 13 

12 18 

13 27 

14 27 

15 30 



Days. Hurdles. 

16 34 

17 34 

18 34 

19 34 

20 34 

21 34 

22 51 

23 51 

24 70 



Days. Hurdles. 

25 70 

26 70 

27 87 

28 87 

29 87 

30 87 

31 90 

32 108 

33 112 



CHAPTER III. 

ON THE REARING OF SILK WORMS FROM THE FIRST 
APPEARANCE OF THE LARVA UNTO THE CHRYSA- 
LIS OR COCOON. 



In the preceding parts of this work we have already 
attended to the preparation of the food, the house, 
the establishment, and furniture for the insect family, 
that, for five or six weeks, we intend to be our sum- 
mer guests, and we have not been negligent in giving 
precaution against the contingencies that might assail 
it from disease or vermin. That family, after the 
hatchment, to which also we have paid due atten- 
tion, is already announcing its approach on our 
threshold ; and the all-important question is, if it is 
ready to partake of our bounty, and repay us libe- 
rally in silken wealth, are we equally so, to satisfy, to 
the utmost, its physical wants, and to protect it against 
the insidious enemies, visible or invisible, to which it 
is liable. 

The food necessary to supply its wants, and the 



THE SILK WORM. 281 

means requisite to maintain its health, must become 
prominent parts of this chapter. In a word, la table 
d'hote, the air, ventilation, temperature, and all the 
etiquette of daily service, must constitute the parts 
and parcels of the panoramic evolution now before 
us. Perhaps we had better put something of the 
latter first, since, when health is wanting, the host 
has little to do in the market ; for when the doctor is 
wanted, the cook has a holyday. 

Notwithstanding our propensity to vituperate the 
men of two thousand years ago, for their heathenism, 
superstition, &c, their common sense maxims, un- 
altered in validity to this day, are often, against our 
resolutions to the contrary, occurring to our recol- 
lection. "Est modus in rebus ; sunt certi denique 
fines, quos ultra, citraque nequit consistere rectum." 
There is a medium (a middle path between two ex- 
tremes) in all things ; in short, there are certain 
limits on either side of which, rectitude (prosperity or 
success) cannot exist. By observing which " aurea 
7nediocritas" golden mean, we may in ninety-nine 
cases out of a hundred, escape the Scylla on the one 
hand, and the Charybdis on the other. 

If we peruse the works of European culturists, 
we read the works of men that have to combat with 
the north-western blasts, nearly three-fourths of all 
that blow in the year, that sweep the immeasurable 
vapours of the Atlantic on European shores. Hence 
we hear of the artillery of their thermometers, ther- 
mometrographs, barometers, hygrometers, pluviome- 
ters, eudiometers, flash-fires, and all the paraphernalia 
of a Dandoliere. Here is one extreme ; suitable in- 
deed, at least to western Europe, and for some parts, 
even this is scarcely sufficient. On the other hand, 
the extreme, the unparalleled felicity of this climate, 
by some is so preached up, a climate so isothermal 
with that of China, where silk worms, as some dream, 
will live and thrive, whether any attention is paid to 
them or not, as if here care as to temperature is 
never necessary, whether a similar season to the year 
24* 



282 THE SILK WORM. 

1816 should occur again or not, or without inquiring 
at what degree all the liquid gum in the secretors of 
the insect congeals, when all its previous toil, without 
an instant restoration of warmth, is rendered nugatory 
and useless. 

Unless we can in all climates of this Union from 
Maine to Louisiana, and in all years, through May 
and June at least, promise ourselves a temperature 
not less than 75°, the use of a thermometer, and of 
means requisite, if necessity exist, of raising the tem- 
perature to that degree, is advisable. Count Dandolo, 
in giving us his prescript, as to the successful rearing 
of the silk worm to the cocoon says, " I must suppose 
that the silk worms are kept until the first moulting 
at 75° of temperature ; between 73° and 75° until the 
second moulting ; between 71° and 73° until the third; 
and lastly between 68° and 71° until the fourth moult- 
ing." One of the foundations of the art of rearing 
silk worms is to know the various degrees of heat 
in which the silk worms should live ; if this precept 
be not enforced, nothing can be performed with ex- 
actness.* 

* On this subject the writer of an article on silk worms inserted in M. 
Rozier's Course of Agriculture, Paris edition, 1801, thus expresses him- 
self relative to heat suitable to the constitution and operations of these 
industrious animals. 

" It cannot be said that silk worms are injured by any degree of heat 
in these climates, however considerable it may be. Native of Asia, it 
must needs be accustomed to heat more intense than it can experience in 
Europe. But the sudden changes from moderate to violent heat, or the 
reverse, are injurious. In its native climate it is not exposed to those 
vicissitudes, and, therefore, thrives well, without requiring all the care 
we are obliged to bestow on it. We must not lose sight of the fact, that 
it is not heat that affects the silk worm, but. sudden transitions from one 
temperature to another. Such as making it pass from 68° to 77° 
in one day. If it be necessary to hasten the worms in consequence 
of the advanced state of the mulberry leaf, which cannot be retarded, 
it should be done gradually, so that they perceive not the alteration. 
M. Boissier de Sauvagues will show us by his experiments, to what 
degree the heat may be raised in rearing silk worms, without fear 
of injuring them. ' One year, when hurried by the early growth 
of the mulberry leaves, which were developed towards the latter end 
of April, I gave the silk worms 100° of heat during the two first 



THE SILK WORM. 283 

On the subject of the amount of food necessary to 
be given to any given quantity of worms, Mr. Corn- 
stock says, " though we have not much faith in feed- 
ing worms by arbitrary mathematical rules, yet as 
they may be of some practical use to the culturist, in 
ascertaining the amount of food necessary to be pro- 
vided for his family of worms, we give them, in brief 
extracts, from the manual published by authority of 
Congress in 1828. In doing this, we shall give the 
amount prescribed on each consecutive day of 



days after hatching, and about 95° during the remainder of the first 
and second age, there elapsed only nine days from the hatching until 
the second moulting inclusively. The walls and wicker hurdles were 
so heated that they could scarcely be touched. All thought they must 
perish ; but all went on well, and to their great surprise, I had a most 
abundant crop. I afterwards tried giving the silk worms in their first 
age from 93° to 95° ; 89° to 91° in the second age, and it is remarkable, 
that the duration of these two ages was nearly similar to that of the pre- 
ceding experiment. It is singular that these worms thus hastened in their 
two first stages, consume only five days in moulting the third and fourth 
time, although with only a temperature of 82°; whilst those worms that 
have not been hastened, take seven or eight days for each of the two last 
moultings in an exactly similar degree of temperature. It appears suf- 
ficient to have given the constitution of the insect an impetus to re- 
gulate the quick succession of its changes. This impetus which we 
have described, as productive of such accelerated growth, also gives the 
insect additional vigour and activity, which they preserve through their 
after ages, and prevents diseases. Thus the hastened or forced cultiva- 
tion presents a double advantage. It also shortens the care and at- 
tendance necessary for silk worms, and sooner terminates the solicitude 
of the cultivator, who must necessary feel anxiety until the cocoon is 
gathered. To follow this method it is requisite to observe well the ad- 
vancement of the season ; the shooting of the mulberry leaf, whether it 
is checked by cold ; if, again, the growth of the leaf is delayed, and the 
heat should soon after set in, and ripen it more quickly than was ex- 
pected, it would be advantageous then to hasten the worms by heat; for 
if they are allowed to delay from want of heat, their first age is prolong- 
ed, and the mulberry leaf will grow, and harden, and become unfit for 
them. The essential point is that their progress should follow that of the 
mulberry leaf. If cultivators adopt this method, they must put the eggs 
to hatch ten days later than they would require to be laid to hatch in 
the ordinary way. And they must calculate the duration of the dif- 
ferent ages of the worm, and so manage that the completion of the rear- 
ing or fourth age should fall into the time in which the leaf has attained 
its full growth.' " 



284 THE SILK WORM. 

their life, without regard to the day of their respective 
ages." 

But that work as well as every other manual pub- 
lished in this country, are evidently derived from the 
canons of Dandolo : and what is certainly very singu- 
lar, every one of them appears to be under a complete 
misconception relative to the number of worms for 
which the prescript of our Italian oracle is given. 
Hence Count Dandolo, Count de Hazzi, and M. Bona- 
foux, have been understood as prescribing different 
quantities of leaves for the same number of worms. 
Whereas a little investigation would have shown that 
instead of discrepancy, the different, not the same 
number of worms as most imagine, they contemplate 
being considered, there is evidently a remarkable 
agreement in the three authorities quoted. 

To show, however, that some discrepancy in their 
proportions have been commonly understood, it is 
only necessary to quote as follows from Mr. Corn- 
stock : " Count Dandolo calculates that 200,000 
worms will consume 7000 lbs. of leaves. Count de 
Hazzi calculates that the same number of worms 
will require 10,000 lbs. of leaves. Mr. Bonafoux 
says that 200,000 worms were sustained by 7217 
lbs. of leaves. The quantity, however, given them 
between the regular meals was not taken into the 
account, and the leaves were chopped during the 
first stages, which enables the worms to consume 
them with less waste." 

We now arrive at another version of Count Dan- 
dolo's meaning, in Mr. Roberts' Manual, where we 
read, " the quantity of food is the proportion given 
to the worms hatched from five ounces of eggs, 
which according to our reading, means 100,000 !" 
Here is discrepancy, the one supposes the count, by 
five ounces, to mean and provide for 200,000 worms, 
the other for only 100,000! How ungracious must 
this said count have been, to put our mathematics to 
so severe a test as to divine what number of worms 
he really did mean by five ounces of eggs. 



THE SILK WORM. 285 

Though the count does not inform us of the num- 
ber of worms of the feeding of which he furnishes 
us an example, yet his statistics are clear, and will 
afford data sufficient to satisfy such further inquiries 
as are necessary. They are founded on a basis, 
fixed, from which, in general illustration, he does 
not swerve, that whilst it serves as a well defined 
unit, in consequence, admits of variations such as 
the contingencies he supposes may occasion. Hence 
we are duly informed that in the example given for 
general instruction, the experiment is not with the 
small worm of three moultings, for then should we 
have 42,620 eggs to the Milanese ounce ; nor yet with 
the large silk worm obtained from Friuli, when our 
calculations would have reference to 37,440 eggs to 
the ounce ; but to what he defines as the " common 
silk worm of four moultings" whose eggs he inva- 
riably quotes at 39,168 to the ounce of Milan. This, 
then, is the common measure, or measuring unit of 
the count's statistics, and to which his subsequent 
proportions refer. It is not 39,168 worms, but 39,1 6S 
eggs ; and how many of the former the latter will be, 
we are duly informed will depend on circumstances, 
not merely on the quality and preservation of the 
eggs, but on our careful and vigilant attention, not 
only in the hatch, but in the whole management of 
this interesting and profitable animal. From this 
unit, this starting place, we are, then, guided by a 
skilful hand, and our next step is to know that the 
quantity to which the count's feeding proportions 
refer, is the worms proceeding from five ounces of 
the kind of eggs specified. Hence the assumption is 
not warranted that the Italian experimentalist is 
giving us a lesson on feeding five times 39,1 6S or 
195,840 worms, much less 200,000, as some have 
supposed, as if 40,000 were the proceed of an ounce ; 
nor is there on the other hand, any need, in making 
liberal allowances for negligent culture, to sink so 
low in the calculation, as to suppose that five ounces 
will only yield 100,000 surviving worms, or 20,000 



286 THE SILK WORM. 

to the ounce, provided that we devote to the under- 
taking any thing like the almost paternal care of the 
patriarch Dandolo. He that manifests devotedness 
like his to any grand object of national industry, is 
questionless the true patriot ; a word, whether derived 
from pater or patria, in spite of our etymological 
subtleties, implies some thing parental. We are 
aware of the allowances to be made for the occa- 
sional foibles of every devoted parent : we have 
made them ; we have rejected the chaff and retain 
only the wheat ; and have the offspring, the silk 
culture, of full stature and healthy condition, and 
such as is capable of the reproduction of its own 
like in these transatlantic climes. 

After making these allowances, we are prepared 
to say, that out of all the numerous authors on this 
subject, whether of Asia, Europe, or America, with 
which we have long been acquainted, we know of 
not one to whom he is second. All the rest are 
either copyists, or the care, the minuteness, the 
science, they exemplify, will admit of no comparison 
with those of the archetype of Varese. It is, per- 
haps, time, therefore, that he should speak for him- 
self. 

At page 195 he says, "The result of my experiments 
proves that 360 silk worms, produce about one pound 
and a half of cocoons." Therefore 240 silk worms 
of the kind, constantly implied, and fed from the white 
mulberry with the care he supposes, yield, on the 
average one pound of cocoons. And from this doc- 
trine he does not vacillate throughout the whole of his 
statistical inferences. Deviations, indeed, he supposes 
possible, but they are always considered by him as 
the result of some corresponding variation from the 
management, the example of which he proposes to 
our view as the standard. We thus, therefore, obtain 
a kind of measuring equation, which will enable us 
to decipher not only the contingent fluctuations above 
or below the zero, which he contemplates as the 
standard, but also to ascertain the number of surviving 



THE SILK WORM. 287 

worms which he evidently supposes, whether from 
one, five, or any other number of ounces, to be varia- 
ble and not fixed, unless the conditions he specifies be 
fulfilled. 

On this point his language is sufficiently definite. 
" I must make a few general remarks on the enor- 
mous difference in results, which real care," or the 
want of it, "produces. I do not here mean to allude 
to the slight and partial differences, that may be con- 
sidered as only exceptions and accidental, but of those 
which are caused by ignorant and ill-directed ma- 
nagement. Hitherto it has been generally thought, in 
quoting facts and experiments, that whatever were 
the quantity of eggs intended for a laboratory, the quan- 
tity of cocoons never bore any proportion to that of the 
eggs; but that on the contrary the greater the quantity 
of eggs, the less the proportion of cocoons." This is, 
questionless, an expose of the mismanagement and 
negligence existing even in the silk districts of Italy, 
before Dandolo taught there a more correct and phi- 
losophical doctrine. 

" These differences it should be known, do not de- 
pend on the organization or natural condition of the 
silk worm, but are solely to be ascribed to error and 
ignorance. Facts, and most evident reason surely 
prove that, if the silk worms have had space, if the 
degrees of temperature have been exactly regulated, 
if the necessary quantity and quality of food have 
been given, and that all the care I have recommended 
has been practised, the quantity of cocoons should be 
and always will be, proportioned to the quantity 
of eggs that were hatched. Those who do not obtain 
this result should attribute their failure to the er- 
roneous system they have adopted. My laboratories 
are of various sizes ; that which I am going to de- 
scribe is calculated for the reception of the worms 
proceeding from five ounces of eggs. The other 
laboratories equally yield cocoons in proportion to 
the eggs which I have hatched." 



288 THE SILK WORM. 

" I should allow the advantage of my manner of 
rearing silk worms to be most trifling, if it were only 
in the produce of the 110 or 120 lbs. of cocoons 
from each ounce of eggs, which others obtain, con- 
suming the same quantity of leaves, and differing only 
in the hatching of two ounces of eggs. But as I said 
before, the great and principal aim of the art of rear- 
ing silk worms, is to obtain from one given quantity 
of mulberry leaves the greatest possible number of 
cocoons of the finest quality. It is not the trifling loss 
of an ounce of eggs which should induce a change of 
system, but the following advantages : for it is a true 
fact, that 

"1. When, with one ounce of eggs, 110 or 120 lbs. 
of cocoons are obtained, about 1650 lbs. of the mul- 
berry leaf will be used. 

"2. That when only 55 or 60 lbs. of cocoons are 
produced from one ounce of eggs, about 1050 lbs. of 
mulberry leaves have been used." Under this sup- 
position it would appear that 2100 lbs. of leaves 
are requisite to produce 110 or 120 lbs. of cocoons! 

"3. That 110 or 120 lbs. of cocoons obtained from 
one ounce of eggs, are worth a great deal more than 
a similar quantity procured from two ounces of eggs. 
It is easy to prove these facts rational. 

"I stated that 39,168 eggs, which constitute one 
ounce, might produce about 165 lbs. of cocoons." 
That is on the supposition that the 39,168 eggs be- 
come 39,168 worms, and that they survive, and pro- 
duce each a cocoon. 

"If, on this statement, we consider the loss of 
worms to be great, when we obtain only 120 lbs. of 
cocoons from one ounce of eggs, the loss will be 
essentially greater, should we only obtain 60 lbs. It 
is natural to suppose that by this greater mortality, 
a greater consumption of leaves should result, as the 
worms which do not reacn the consummation of the 
cocoon, feed more or less, as well as those which 
accomplish the cocoon. 



THE SILK WORM. 289 

" The great mortality of the worms must also affect 
the quality of the cocoon. For who could suppose 
that two-thirds of the worms proceeding from one 
ounce of eggs should die without some error or want 
of care? In this case, are we not justified in think- 
ing that part of those that remain are weakened 
and injured? This inference would be still more 
forcible, if, as it frequently happens, that the 60 lbs. 
of cocoons be reduced," (what, in Italy ?) " to 45, to 
30, 15 lbs., &c. 

" Whereas, if one ounce of eggs should produce, by 
the means I have stated, 120 lbs. of cocoons, they 
will be fine, and will sell well. 360 worms will pro- 
duce \\ lbs. of cocoons, (i. e. 240 to the pound,) and 
11 or 12 ounces of these cocoons will yield an ounce 
of exquisitely fine silk. But when only 50 or 60 lbs. 
of cocoons proceed from an ounce of eggs, it may be 
generally presumed that they are of inferior quality 
and not so valuable, and that it will require 400 at 
least to make \\ lbs., (about 267 worms to one pound 
of cocoons,) and above 13 ounces of these cocoons, 
instead of 1 1 or 12 ounces, will be wanted to form one 
ounce of silk. 

" Moreover, when the worms have not been pro- 
perly managed, there is no certainty as to the quan- 
tity of cocoons that will be gathered ; and it happens 
continually, that the same cultivator will, from the 
same quantity of eggs, and the same quality in the 
leaves, obtain at one time a number of cocoons, at 
another time few, and sometimes none. It would be 
interesting therefore, as well to the government as to 
the individual, to compare the quantity and quality 
of the cocoons produced on my plan with those pro- 
duced on the system which is generally adopted. If 
it were afterwards calculated, the loss occasioned by 
ignorance every year would doubtless cause astonish- 
ment." 

Independently of the valuable information of prac- 
tical consequence, that we gain through these re- 
marks, we also learn that the count's ratio between 
25 



290 



THE SILK WORM. 



the number of worms that arrive at maturity to spin, 
and the weight in Milan pounds of cocoons is 240 ; 
that is, if the whole be conducted with that degree of 
skill and care, which is necessary to constitute the 
medium, the unit of statistical calculation, and that to 
which the count's proportions, given in the diary, con- 
stantly refer. And as he also reckons, on the same 
condition, on 120 lbs. of cocoons to the ounce of 
eggs, it is evident that he is supposing that he is 
making a continued provision for 120 times 240 for 
every ounce of eggs in his laboratory ; or for 28,800 
surviving worms proceeding from the 39,168 eggs 
that constitute a Milan ounce ; which makes the am- 
ple allowance of 10,368 for such contingency and 
mortality as might occur, on the average of seasons 
and circumstances, even under the unremitting vigi- 
lance of a Dandolo. Now as he here expressly in- 
forms us that he is making provision for five such 
ounces, or five times 28,800, and since he elsewhere, 
at least, twice says, that experience authorizes him to 
expect from such an example as he presents us for 
general illustration, 600 lbs. of cocoons, which as 
before observed are at the rate of 240 worms to the 
pound, from these separate and distinct premises, 
240 x 120 x .5, and 600 x 240 we arrive at the 
same result, viz. 144,000 surviving worms, or the 
ivorms which out of Jive Milan ounces of the eggs of 
the common silk worm of four moultings will, with 
the very practicable care, and laudable zeal of Dan- 
dolo, on the average of seasons and circumstances, 
ultimately, spin cocoons. But it is here unnecessary 
to reduce these Milan pounds or ounces, or the num- 
ber of eggs or worms to which they refer, to English 
ounces or pounds ; since as the quantity of leaves 
prescribed for each day, is administered by the same 
kind of weight, the proportionality will be not dis- 
turbed. Hence the quantity of leaves prescribed for 
every day of the diary of Count Dandolo, is neither 
for the 200,000 worms seen through the convex glasses 
of Judge Comstock, nor for the 100,000 viewed 



THE SILK WORM. 291 

through the concave lens of Mr. Roberts, but for the 
144,000 surviving worms predestinated not by Cal- 
vin's but by Daudolo's decrees, under implied cir- 
cumstances, out of five Milanese ounces, to spin 
cocoons. With this understanding we shall find that 
the proportions prescribed respectively by Count Dan- 
dolo, Count de Hazzi and M. Bonafoux, are consist- 
ent, and are not either discrepant or contradictory 
as they have been erroneously represented. The 
whole consideration terminates in the simple re- 
suit that 10,000 lbs. of white mulberry leaves 
are necessary, during the five weeks of feeding for 
200,000 silk worms; and consequently one pound 
of the same kind of leaves are requisite for every 20 
worms. That is, 350 grains at least to constitute 
from 68 to 73 grains in the substance of the insect 
at its maximum size ; and therefore 12 lbs. of white 
mulberry leaves, at least, are necessary, to produce 
one pound of cocoons, and between eight and nine 
times that quantity, or 100 lbs. of the same leaf, to 
yield one pound of silk. 

After these preliminary observations it is now re- 
quisite that we turn our attention to our young family, 
which by this time will have important claims on our 
services. Prior to our entrance into the cocoonery of 
a large scale, or one of five ounces, the count gives 
an example of a smaller establishment, or the labora- 
tory of a single ounce. Of this, since in certain cases, 
it may have its use, we shall here give the outline. 

The silk worms proceeding from one ounce of eggs 
consume 

In the first age ; 6 lbs. of white mulberry 
leaves well sorted, and chopped very small ; to which 
5 lbs. of the leaves of the morus multicaulis will 
be equal. 

In the second age ; of the white mulberry leaf, 
they consume 18 lbs. ; sorted, clean, and chopped 
rather more coarsely than in the first age ; of the 
multicaulis leaf, about 15 lbs. 

In the third age; of the white mulberry leaf 



292 THE SILK WORM. 

they consume 60 lbs. well sorted and less chopped ; 
of the multicaulis 50 lbs. 

In the fourth age; of the white mulberry leaf, 
180 lbs. well sorted and still less chopped than that 
of the third age : of the multicaulis 144 lbs. 

In the fifth age ; of the white mulberry leaf 
1100 lbs. ; of the multicaulis 8S0 lbs. 

The above, of course, is given as a general rule, 
or one on the supposition of ordinary circumstances 
and care. We are informed that even a variation in 
the season will have an influence on the requisite 
quantity of leaves. If the leaf be injured by the 
season, and the proportion of nutritive matter it con- 
tains lessened, a greater quantity to produce the same 
effect will be necessary ; and vice versa, if the nutri- 
tive proportion of the leaf be increased, a quantity 
less than the medium prescribed will realize the 
hopes of the culturist. 

The above will serve as an outline of manipulation 
on a small scale. In following out the detail, how- 
ever, for the sake of variety, we will repair to the 
large laboratory, or establishment for ivorms pro- 
ceeding from Jive ounces of eggs. 

For small quantities, of course, as already observed, 
spare buildings or apartments, may often serve; but 
we must now suppose the previous building of a re- 
gular cocoonery, of which we have already given an 
example. It is proper that at the commencement, the 
shelves should be numbered, 1, 2, 3, 4, &c. through- 
out. The quantity of eggs to be hatched ought not 
to be more than will leave room, within the cocoonery, 
and according to the number of shelves that we can 
conveniently furnish therein, sufficient for the full de- 
velopment of the worm, or for their accommodation 
at their utmost growth. 

The eggs should have been divided by weight into 
ounces or half ounces, and each parcel kept apart. 
It would be better, supposing the number of shelves 
to be 30, 35, 40 or upwards, to divide into half ounces, 
and so to apportion them, as to leave a number of 



THE SILK WORM. 293 

spare shelves; and if the eggs be good, and the pro- 
duce more than an average, to distribute them into 
more space than they would ordinarily occupy. But 
the distribution on the shelves according to the order 
or date of their hatching, and according to distinctive 
numbers on the shelves and as duly recorded in a 
diary, which will be kept by every accurate culturist, 
should be observed throughout. 

We have already remarked that several recent 
authors have estimated from 35,000 to 40^000 or even 
upwards to the ounce ; and we have seen that Count 
Dandolo quotes the definite number of 39,168 eggs of 
the common silk worm of four moultings to the Milan 
ounce; of which, it is evident, that the whole of his 
prescriptive measures are proportioned to the suppo- 
sition, that with the standard treatment, he sanctions 
28,800 worms will survive to the cocoon, which we 
have already determined to be equivalent to 36,244 
eggs and to 26,650 surviving worms to the English 
ounce avoirdupois. In the application of space, this 
latter number is to be regarded as a necessary element 
in our calculation ; but as it is quoted as a medium, 
and a contingent deviation, if any, might be in our 
favour rather than to the contrary, it will be acknow- 
ledged that of too much or too little space, an appro- 
priation of the former, will be the less evil of the 
two. 

With this allotment then of space, which in all 
cases should be such, that there be no necessity for 
the worms touching one another, we may suppose 
that the worms are now properly distributed on the 
shelves, and each in the enjoyment of as much or 
more space around, as its exclusive province or prin- 
cipality, as existed in the sweep of the eye of Thomp- 
son's insect on the dome of St. Paul's cathedral. All 
things then are ready, and we expect that the super- 
intendent is more than ready, and has counted, long 
since, the heads of his future manipulations, on the 
tips of his fingers, as accurately as the Roman orator. 

We see him then at work. The panorama of the 
25* 



294 THE SILK WORM. 

cocoonery, the tout ensemble is before us. We see 
that zeal, the spirit of his office, actuates the man ; 
which whilst it is the logic that suits his own pocket, 
benefits the nation. Patriotism, or even a nondescript 
philanthropy, not provided for by Linnseus, often 
effects the most, when it begins with a little thing, an 
insect for example; and here even selfishness, how 
ever paradoxical, must benefit another ! This zeal, 
we perceive, has dictated to this superintendent the 
propriety of a book of record, a diary, a book of me- 
moranda, or a faithful register of every event, each 
according to its respective date, of every thing that 
can concern the hatch, or hatches, if he have more 
than one, the moultings, the ages or quantity of leaves 
administered during each, the temperature, in short, 
every occurrence, especially of a statistical character, 
that can be comprised within the whole history be- 
tween the egg and the reel. 

Leaves are now to be thinly scattered over the 
shelves. It is not absolutely necessary that the hur- 
dles should be used till the third age. The young 
larvee will run about, and leave the shelves, if food 
be not given them immediately after their exodus 
from the shell. They will never leave the feeding 
shelves till they rise to spin, provided that they be 
duly supplied with food, proper in quality, sufficient 
in quantity, and at the time they require it. The fol- 
lowing cut represents the worms just emerged from 
the shell, during the first age. 
Fig. 5. 



REARING OF THE WORMS. 

First age : First day. To the worms proceeding 
from five ounces of eggs, on the first day of their 
existence in the larva state, are to be given, in proper 
proportions, at successive meals, two hours apart, of 
the white mulberry leaf, about 3| lbs., chopped very 
small ; giving the smallest quantity for the first feed- 



THE SILK WORM. 295 

ing, and gradually increasing the quantity at each 
successive meal ; of the multicaulis leaf, the quantity 
may be 3 lbs. 

The benefit of giving the leaf, at this early stage of 
the worm, in a state of minute division, by chopping, 
is evident. The more the leaf is chopped, the more 
fresh cat edges exist, on which the little mandibles 
of the infant operatives can fasten. In this state, 
they bite the leaf quickly, and consume it before it is 
withered. 

If care be not taken thus to chop the leaf small, 
and to give the young worms sufficient space at first, 
and more as they need it, a greater number will be 
liable to perish, by disease, or from difficulties they 
want strength to encounter at an age so early. The 
worm that cannot eat, dwindles, becomes extenuated, 
weak, and unsupported, and, consequently, perishes 
under the leaf. 

Count Dandolo fed his worms regularly four times 
every day. From this medium, in practice, there are 
at least two variations. Some give the whole quan- 
tity for the day at once ! This mode is liable to seve- 
ral objections ; others divide Dandolo's four meals 
into from eight to twelve, which, we think, gives an 
indication that the party is determined to realize good 
cocoons. The worms, too, should be fed not only by 
day, but by night. Whatever number of meals are 
given during the twenty-four hours, it will be easy to 
give the whole quantity of leaves prescribed for the 
day, in corresponding proportions. 

Second day. On this day, of the white mulberry 
leaf, give, at four regular meals, about 6 lbs. chopped 
very small. Let the first meal be the least, and in- 
crease gradually to the last : of the multicaulis, give 
about 5 lbs. 

There will now appear some evident change in the 
appearance of the worm. It begins to lose its dingy 
and bristled aspect, and the head perceptibly enlarges 
and whitens. 

Third day. Give at four meals this day, of soft 



296 



THE SILK WORM. 



white mulberry leaves, chopped very small, about 
12 lbs.: of the multicaulis, about 10 lbs. The worms 
are now feeding with avidity. The head of the worm 
continues to become whiter, the insect to grow larger, 
the former bristly appearance to vanish, and the skin 
is assuming a sort of hazel colour. When viewed 
through a convex lens, their surface looks shining, 
and their head, a silvery white, somewhat like mother 
of pearl, and transparent. 

Fourth day. As the worm approaches the 
moulting, a diminution of appetite occurs. Of the 
white mulberry, give about 6 lbs. 12 oz. ; let the first 
meal be about 2 lbs. 4 oz., and the rest gradually de- 
crease to the last. Of the multicaulis, give about 
5i lbs. And let it be remembered, that in this first 
age, it is of importance to give the insects plenty of 
room, by gently separating and spreading them, to 
avoid as much as possible their sleeping, on the verge 
of moulting, in heaps. 

At the beginning of this day, the first appearances 
of the approaching change are indicated. The 
worms begin to shake their heads, and thus express 
uneasiness at the increasing tension of their skin. 
Some are now eating very little ; keep their head in 
an elevated position ; their body appears transparent; 
those nearer the moulting time, when seen against 
the light, are of a yellow, livid tinge; but the greater 
number, at the close of the day, appear torpid, and 
cease to eat. 

Fifth day. Of the young leaves of the white mul- 
berry, \h lbs. only, chopped small will be sufficient. 
These chopped leaves scattered lightly on those parts 
of the shelves, where worms appear to be still feed- 
ing. Of course, where variations from the general 
state be perceived, and some are still willing to eat, 
more leaves may be given. The discretion of the 
careful superintendent, here and in all similar cases 
must be exercised. 

Towards the end of the day, however, in the gene- 
ral case, the worms are torpid, and a few begin even 



THE SILK WORM. 297 

to revive. After the first moulting the silk worm is 
of a dark ash colour, showing distinctly a peculiar 
vermicular motion, and the rings that mechanically 
assist that motion contract and dilate their intervening 
distance more freely than before. 

When the weather admits of it, the leaves should 
be gathered several hours before the meal is given ; 
they last very well a day, and more if kept in a damp 
cool place. 

General remarks on the first age. — The first 
age of this industrious animal, at the temperature here 
assigned as a medium, is almost always one of five 
days. In this age the silk worms proceeding from 
five ounces of eggs have, of the white mulberry 
consumed about 30 lbs. sorted, picked and chopped 
leaves. If the refuse of the leaves picked off and 
rejected be estimated, its proportion will be about 
4% lbs. making the quantity taken from the trees to 
be in all 34£ lbs., or about 7 lbs. of leaves to each 
ounce of worms. In this age, the air of the cocoon- 
ery should be renewed only by opening the doors. 

Second age. — About 73 ft. 4 in. square of shelf 
space will be, for the accommodation of the growing 
family proceeding from 5 ounces necessary until the 
accomplishment of the second moulting, or comple- 
tion of this second age. These, as before observed, 
should always be covered with strong paper, or pro- 
per pasteboard. The temperature during this age, as 
recommended by Dandolo, "should be" says he, be- 
tween 73° and 75°. Prescribing as to temperature 
in a hot country in juxtaposition with Juue or July, 
appears of course, a little arbitrary; a subject, for 
want of room here, we shall further consider in the 
subjoined note.* The insects should not be raised 

* We must remember that Count Dandolo wrote in the northern 
parts of Italy, between the elevated regions of the Alps on the one side, 
and the Apennines on the other ; by the fanning breezes of whose snow 
capt tops, and his ventilators, what cooling zephyrs Dandolo could 
command, we poor panting lizards in an American July know little. It 
has been very properly asked, how are we to command the temperature 



298 THE SILK WORM. 

from their litter until they are nearly all revived. 
There will ensue no detriment if we wait till nearly 
all discover a disposition to move, even should it 
be for twenty or thirty hours from the time when 
they first began to revive.* Important changes are 

to walk down to 73° or 75°, when even in the shade without, the 
thermometer is raging from 90° to 100°. At this time little current 
exists in the external air, and consequently all common ventilators are 
then of little promise. This reminds us of an admirable convenience 
in common use, particularly amongst the affluent voluptuaries in Bengal 
and India, but as yet too little known in this country. Since there, even 
in the latter part of January, the thermometer sometimes rises to 90°, 
we may easily conceive what the tropical temperature of India fre- 
quently is in the months of June, July, and August, especially to those, 
whose means allow them not the luxury of spending their days under 
the punkha. 

The punkha is a large frame, or in longer rooms, frames of wood, 
each covered with painted canvass, and so caused to be suspended by 
ropes, or to swing on hinges, that when the one is moved, they all oscil- 
late with the same pendulous vibration, and according to their extent of 
surface, command, a less or greater current of air in the room. It is 
generally hung over the dining table, and is there intended to answer 
the end of a fan. In India, a servant stands on one side of the room, 
and holds the rope, fastened to the middle of it, and keeps drawing the 
punkha to him, and then letting it go again. In this manner, the air 
being agitated, the region under the punkha becomes comparatively cool. 
In hot weather, some Europeans sit under the punkha from morning to 
night, and put their couch under it, in the day, when they take a nap. 
We understand, also, from respectable authority, that the flies, mus- 
quitoes and gnats, that prowl in the air, and take the liberty, without 
asking leave, of going a pilgrimage across the Indian aristocrat's nose, 
when he is enjoying his afternoon sieste, are particularly opposed to 
this innovation of their privileges. Several of these punkhas are kept 
going in the mission church at Calcutta during divine service. A valu- 
able hint for American churches, in June and July. An evident im- 
provement would be, instead of using a servant, to let the whole move 
by a pendulum. When a current is sufficiently produced in the co- 
coonery, stop the pendulum, or set it agoing when wanted, ad libitum. 
(If we can persuade our friend, who talks of manufacturing an im- 
proved pattern of the punkha, he will send it to the cocoonery office, or 
establishment of the Morodendron Silk Company, for inspection. It is 
time that we Americans, in our houses, our courts, our churches, our 
cocooneries, in June, July and August, should know the value and use 
of the Indian punkha.) 

* During the first age too many cultivators destroy the health and life 
of a number of worms for want of sufficient attention ; and consequently 
beyond that age, they have worms of unequal growth and advancement, 
an inconvenience never after remedied. This inequality and the evils 



THE SILK WORM. 299 

effected by the first moulting. The organs assume 
greater consistency. The scaly muzzle which they 
lose by moulting is replaced by another which the 
air indurates ; and till the small jaws or mandibles 
have acquired sufficient hardness, they cannot, in 
certain cases, with an expedition equal to what their 
seasonable advance to maturity requires, divide the 
leaves. With the aid of a convex lens, we immedi- 
ately perceive the efforts, to the expense of which, 
an unassisted worm of this age, is liable, in gnawing 
the leaf. 

Sixth day. Of the ivhite mulberry give now 
9 lbs. of young tender shoots, and 9 lbs. of leaves, 
well picked and chopped small.* Of the multicaulis 
this is equal to 15 lbs. 

Experience has proved that the silk worms like the 
tender boughs so much, that they remain crowded on 
them even when the leaves are consumed, and evince 
a reluctance to return to the litter below. This re- 
mark will doubtless afford a hint to the provident cul- 
turist in affording the requisite accommodations for the 
health and comfort of animals that repay in propor- 
tion to the care expended on them. When the worms 

resulting from it, are caused, 1st, By not having placed the silk worms 
in space proportional to their growth in the course of their first age, 
which has allowed of some feeding well, whilst others could not feed, of 
some remaining under the litter, others on it, the latter having the bene- 
fit of free air, the former not. In moulting, if those that moult sooner 
than others, and are under the leaf, this important change is retarded. 
2dly, By not having placed the sheets of silk worms hatched on the first 
day in the coolest parts of the laboratory. 3dly, By not having placed 
the latest hatched worms in the hottest parts of the laboratory. 4th, And 
lastly, by not having given the last hatched worms intermediate meals, 
to bring on their growth a little faster. 

* Tn recommending that the leaves be chopped small, we are rather 
inclined to follow experienced culturists in Europe and America than 
our own judgment and experience in the matter. We think, excepting 
perhaps in the first age, that nature has furnished the silk worm with 
means to devour food, if they can get it, whether chopped or not. Their 
own choppers are machines which never fail them. But in some case3 
nature may be improved upon, more especially if art and nature are 
combined. 



300 THE SILK WORM. 

have been removed to clean hurdles, those they have 
left should be thoroughly cleansed. 

From the first day of the rearing of silk worms, un- 
til the first moulting, these insects have consumed 
30 lbs. of leaves ; 22 lbs. 8 oz. have contributed to 
their growth, or have evaporated in the first age. 
The worms void a small portion of foeces resembling 
fine black powder, of the 7 lbs. 8 oz. of remaining sub- 
stance there are only about 10 oz. of excremental 
matter. 

Seventh day. Of the white mulberry give 30 lbs. 
of chopped leaves ; divided into four portions to be 
given at intervals of six hours; but an improvement 
would be to divide into ten or twelve portions, given 
at intervals of two to three hours each. The first 
meals less plentiful than those which follow. Of the 
multicaulis, this quantity is equivalent to 24 lbs. 

The body of the worm now acquires a clear hue ; 
the head enlarges and becomes whiter. Continue to 
pay an unremitting attention to the equal distribution, 
as to space, of the worms. Place boughs wher- 
ever they appear to be too thick, on which they will 
immediately fasten, and may thus be removed or dis- 
tributed to fill up places not sufficiently covered. 

Eighth day. . Give now, of the white mulberry 
33 lbs. of chopped and well picked leaves ; and at this 
time let the two or three first meals be the largest. 
Of the multicaulis leaves, give 21 lbs. These leaves, 
distribute at each meal with attention, and as far as 
possible proportionate to the degree of avidity disco- 
verable by the worm ; since it becomes again the 
period when the voracity of the worm, consequent 
on the approach of the second moulting, begins to 
abate, which they soon indicate by the usual prognos- 
tics of rearing their heads and declining to eat. 

Ninth day. Of the white mulberry, 9 lbs. only 
of picked leaves and chopped small, will be re- 
quired, distributed in the same manner as before. 
Scatter the proportions lightly, and with discriminat- 



THE SILK WORM. 301 

ing care over the worms. Of the multicaulis, about 
7 lbs. will be sufficient. 

On this day our metempsychosin insect, which 
seems almost to have been the primitive instructer of 
the Samian philosopher, is again discovering its pe- 
riodic restlessness for change. It is sinking into a 
torpor. The next day its old wardrobe is disposed 
of, and it becomes as eager or more of its third life, as 
it was of the first. 



General remarks on the conclusion of the 
second age. In the four days of this age our young 
colony has consumed about 90 lbs. of picked leaves 
of the white mulberry. If to this we add a refuse of 
15 lbs. rejected from the picked leaves, 105 lbs. have 
been drawn from the trees, that is, at the rate of 
21 lbs. for every ounce of silk worms. To these three 
proportions, 12 lbs., 84 lbs., and 17 lbs. of the multi- 
caulis respectively correspond. 

Their colour now is become of a light grey, the 
hair has become so much shorter as to be hardly per- 
ceptible to the eye. The muzzle, which in the first 
age was very black, hard and scaly, became im- 
mediately on moulting white and soft, now becomes 
again black, shining and shelly as before, and as the 
insect becomes older, at each moulting, its muzzle 
hardens, because it needs to saw and bite larger and 
older leaves. 

Third age. — Tenth day. Give of white mulberry 
15 lbs. of small shoots and 15 lbs. of the picked leaves, 
chopped small. At the close of the age, they may be 
more coarsely chopped. To this quantity, 24 lbs. of 
the multicaulis are equivalent. 

The worms that have accomplished this age should 
not be removed from the shelves until they are nearly 
roused. Part will rouse on the ninth and part on the 
tenth day. No injurious consequence will ensue, if the 

26 



302 THE SILK WORM. 

part that has revived should wait 12 or 15 hours till 
the rest are ready. A never failing sign that they are 
roused is the undulatory motion they display with 
their head, when horizontally blown over. 

It will ever be incumbent on the superintendent, or 
person who has a leading interest in the concern, fre- 
quently to inspect the operations of the feeders, to see 
that the food is at all times equally distributed, ac- 
cording to the varying wants on different portions of 
the shelves. Redundant leaves, though a loss, is still 
an inconvenience less than the accumulation of an un- 
necessary portion of litter, which may ferment and 
produce noxious evaporation and disease. 

Eleventh day. Of the ivhite mulberry, give at sepa- 
rate meals 90 lbs. of picked and chopped leaves; of 
the multicaulis 72 lbs. The first meals should be the 
least ; the reason of this, the worms themselves will 
explain, since it is in the latter part of the day, that 
they now become voraciously hungry. 

Twelfth day. Of the white mulberry, 97 lbs. of pick- 
ed leaves will be wanted, chopped and divided into 
the usual number of meals ; the first being most 
plentiful. Towards evening, the hunger begins to 
abate, the last meal therefore on this day should be 
the least. To this quantity, of the multicaulis, IS lbs. 
will be equivalent. 

The worms now grow fast ; their skins become 
whiter, their bodies semitransparent, and their heads 
longer, and the contortions they make show that their 
change approaches. 

Thirteenth day. 52 \ lbs. of chopped white mul- 
berry leaves will now be sufficient. 42 lbs. of the mul- 
ticaulis. Give in the usual number of meals, the 
largest first, the last meal the least, feeding those only 
that require it. Should a greater number of silk 
worms on one table be torpid, whilst others continue 
to require food, give only a slight meal without wait- 
ing for the stated hour of feeding, in order to satisfy 
them, that they may sink into torpor speedily. Care 
of this kind is important, and intermediate meals oc- 



THE SILK WORM. 303 

casionally given, and by discretion administered, is 
beneficial. 

Fourteenth day. Of the tvhite mulberry, 21 lbs. 
of picked and chopped leaves will be sufficient, in or- 
dinary cases, more or less, as occasion requires. To this 
medium supply, of multicaulis leaves 22 lbs. will be 
equivalent. Indications of silk now begin to appear 
from the occasional depositions of the insect. 

The worm now manifests inclination for solitude 
and free space to slumber in. It either climbs the 
edge of paper, the elevated stalks or leaves, or in 
failure of that, on the litter; it rears its head and ex- 
presses its uneasiness. Immediately on the verge of 
change, they void all gross excrementitious matter ; a 
yellow and semitransparent lymph only occupies the 
intestinal tube, and constitutes nearly the only fluid 
remaining in the animal. This also is that which 
prior to their change gives them a yellowish white 
colour like amber. Whilst the worms thus prepare for 
the moulting, sufficiently clear, by moderate ventilation, 
the air of the cocoonery. 

Fifteenth day. On this day, the rousing of the silk 
worms, which they begin to manifest, is an indication 
of the completion of the third age. 
Fig. 7. 




General remarks on the third age. In six 
days, under ordinary circumstances, the worm passes 
through its third age, in which those proceeding from 
5 ounces of eggs, on the same condition, have con- 
sumed 300 lbs. of leaves and young shoots. If to 
this be added 45 lbs. of refuse rejected by picking, 
345 lbs. have been taken from the trees : i. e. at the 
rate of 69 lbs. to the ounce. 

The muzzle of the silk worm, daring the third age, 
has maintained a reddish ash colour ; it is no longer 



304 THE SILK WORM. 

shining and black, as it appeared in the first ages, but 
now becomes more lengthened and prominent. The 
head and body also are much enlarged since the cast- 
ing even of the skin, or before they have eaten at all ; 
a proof that they were straitened in the skin they 
have cast, and being now unconfined, the natural speci- 
fic density or rarefaction of their substance, has expand- 
ed them at the ordinary rate of atmospheric pressure. 

At the completion of this age, the body of the silk 
worm is more wrinkled, they become of a yellowish 
white or fawn colour, and, without a glass, no hairi- 
ness is visible. In this third age, we first hear a pe- 
culiar hissing noise, when the worms are feeding, 
similar to that produced by the burning of green 
wood. This noise does not, however, proceed from 
the action of the jaws, but from the continual motion 
of the feet, sounding not unlike a soft shower of rain, 
until the worms fasten on their wood, when this co- 
coonery music ceases. 

Fourth age. The worms, with proper care, sur- 
viving now from five ounces, should have a space 
equal to 412 square feet, and should be equally dis- 
tributed as already prescribed, and the temperature 
should be not less than 68°, nor higher, if possible, ac- 
cording to Dandolo, than 71°, but whenever it rises, 
as, at this season, it inevitably may, higher, compen- 
sating means must be sought by the instant removal 
of all litter liable to fermentation, and promoting, by 
ventilators and other means, a due circulation of air 
in the cocoonery. We must again insist on the im- 
propriety of lifting off the hurdles those silk worms 
that have completed their third age until nearly all 
are roused. The one part waiting a day, or even a 
day and a half for the other, is, as said before, not in- 
jurious. It is, however, advisable to place the early 
roused in the coolest part of the laboratory, and the 
late roused worms in the warmest* part ; and if this 

* Be it remembered that moderate increase of heat sharpens the silk 
worm's appetite, and consequently accelerates its growth, and vice versa 1 , 
that appetites, as well as growth, may be thus artificially retarded. 



I 

i 



THE SILK WORM. 305 

be inconvenient or impracticable, to give to the former 
less, and to the latter more space ; and by one or 
the other, or by both these means, their advance 
towards the maturity of their fourth age, will be so 
preserved that they will, which is important, moult 
together.* 

Sixteenth day. On this day give 37i lbs. of the 
young shoots, and 60 lbs. of picked leaves of the white 
mulberry coarsely chopped with a large blade. To this 
quantity 7S lbs. of the multicaulis will be equal. 

When the moment of removing the worms from 
the hurdles arrives, one or two hurdles only at a time 
should be covered with young shoots. These shoots, 
loaded with worms, are afterwards put on the empty 
shelves, and removed, as in the first moultings. 
Should there not be a sufficiency of small boughs, 
branches of 15 or 20 leaves (white mul.) tied to- 
gether by the stalks, will answer the purpose. The 
removal should be effected by three persons: one to 
fill the shelves, one to carry them, and another gently 
to remove them from these shelves on the hurdles, in 
the space allotted to them. 

When those which have revived are removed, 
others yet remain torpid on the 174 feet square of 
hurdles, or that have not yet strength to climb on the 
shoots or branches of leaves. But it will be disco- 
vered that the early roused have probably by this 
time eaten all the leaves on the young shoots or 
branches that served to carry them, and that they re- 
main without food on the shelf. They should then 
be supplied with 30 lbs. of white mulberry leaves, 
chopped a little, or with 24 lbs. of those of the mul- 
ticaulis. The other 30 lbs. of leaves should not be 
given until the second meal has been thoroughly con- 
sumed. At the end of this day, the worms begin to 
evince renewed vigour: they move more nimbly, 
they grow perceptibly, they lose their ugly colour, 

* It will be advantageous to have marked on each shelf, its dimen- 
sions in square feet : or the product of its length multiplied by its 
breadth. 

26* 



306 THE SILK WORM. 

become slightly white, and assume more animal 
vivacity.* 

Seventeenth day. 165 lbs. of the white mulberry leaf, 
slightly cut up, will now be wanted. The first meals 
should be the lightest, the last, most copious. 1 32 lbs. 
of the multicaulis. The worms now grow fast, and 
their skin continues to whiten. 

Eighteenth day. 225 lbs. of the sorted leaves of 
the white mulberry, a little cut; or 180 lbs. of the 
leaves of the multicaulis are, at this time, the proper 
proportions. The former meals of the day to be the 
most plentiful. 

Nineteenth day. Of the white mulberry, the cut 
leaves to be distributed at successive meals, should 
amount to 255 lbs., the first meals of the day still 
being the larger, in the proportion of about 5 to 3. 
To this quantity, 204 lbs. of multicaulis leaves are 
equal. The worms continue to become whiter, and 
in size, increase to 1^ inches long. 

Twentieth day. Reduce to 128 lbs. of the picked 
leaves of the white mulberry, since on this day, the 
appetite of the larvae diminishes ; or of the multi- 
caulis leaves, give 103 lbs. Let the first meal be the 
largest, and gradually lessen till the last. Several 
are beginning to become torpid, therefore, with dis- 
crimination, give leaves, to prevent both waste, and 
avoidable fermentation, only, as they are wanted. 
The worms are now If inches long. 

Twenty-first day. Of the picked leaves of the 
white mulberry, 35 lbs., of the multicaulis, 28 lbs., 
are sufficient for the day. The changeable animals 
under our care are now decreasing in size, since they 
lose part of their substance before they sink into 
torpor. The greenish colour of their rings becomes 
changed, and their skin is now wrinkled. 

* In the third age, about 300 lbs. of picked leaves (240 lbs. of multi- 
caulis) have been put on the hurdles ; and the litter, in tbe former 
case, is about 93 lbs. in weight. Consequently, 207 lbs. of leaves have 
been transmuted into increase of animal substance, or expended in 
evaporation. The foeces of the insect, during this age, would weigh 
about 18 lbs. 



THE SILK WORM. 307 

Twenty-second day. The worms ronse on this 
day, and thus accomplish their fourth age. 
Fig. 8. 




General remarks on the fourth age. In 
about 7 days, the worms have accomplished their 
fourth moulting: their old skins have gone, and they 
have new ones. In this period, they have consumed, 
of the white mulberry leaves, 900 lbs., from which 
the refuse rejected was 135 lbs. being in all 1035 lbs. 
of leaves drawn from the trees for 5 ounces ; or at 
the rate of 207 lbs. per ounce. The proportions of 
the multicaulis equivalent to these quantities respect- 
ively, are 720 lbs., 828 lbs., and 166 lbs. The insects 
now are assuming a darker colour, or grayish, with 
a red tinge. It may be here remarked, that whenever 
cocooneries are kept in proper order, the internal air 
is perceived to be preferable to the external, from 
the agreeable odour of the fresh mulberry leaves. 

Fifth age. General Remarks. This age of 
the silk worm is the longest and most decisive. It 
requires some experience and practical good sense, to 
conduct them through to maturity. As they grow in 
this age, they are liable to three evils, which attack 
them according to their strength, and to their distri- 
bution in the cocoonery, and may inflict weakness 
such as to cause their destruction : these are — 

1st. The quantity of fluid disengaged every day, 
which through this age is incredible, from the body 
of the insect, by transpiration and evaporation of the 
leaves. 2d. The mephitic exhalations, daily emitted 
from the excrementitious matter of the insects, and 
fermentations of the remains of the leaves, which now 
are liable, without constant removal, to accumulate 
daily to a large amount.* 3d. The damp as well as 

* It is surprising to find how large a volume of miasma disengages 
itself, in the fifth age, from the silk worms. If one ounce of their feces 



308 THE SILK WORM. 

hot state of the atmosphere of the cocoonery, which 
at this time may result from the compound cause of 
the heat and rarefaction of the external air and that 
of the exhalations, which now are greater, not only 
in proportion to the magnitude of the accumulation, 
hut also to the increased temperature of the season. 
The combination of these adverse circumstances may 
inflict also injuries on our patients in three ways : 
1st. The skin of the worm, by these means, is liable 
to relaxation, to lose its elasticity; languor, decrease 
of appetite, morbid secretions, and unless the causes 
be arrested, death may ensue. 2d. The quantity of 
vital principle in the air, by these means, is dimi- 
nished, and, consequently, the breathing of the insect 
is not only impeded, and rendered more laborious, 
but also less effectual in every equal volume of air, 
and space of time, to its continued health and exist- 
ence. 3d. The increased vegetable fermentation and 
foecal exhalations, aggravated by the heat of this 
usually hot season, disturb the electrical constitu- 
tion of the air, which injures animal vitality, for a 
cause analogous to that which turns milk sour, from 
the disengagement of oxygen in air by electrical ac- 
tion. On the effect of electrical phenomena on animal 
and vegetable substances, see Rozier's Cour d ? Agri- 
culture.* 

be placed in a bottle of three half-pints capacity, and hermetically 
corked, in eight hours, the air in the bottle will be found, on experiment, 
to be destructive to animal life. A small bird placed therein would die 
in a few moments, and a lighted candle would be instantly extinguished. 
The cocoonery, in this age, contains 1200 lbs. of foecal matter, sufficient 
to vitiate, in one day, a volume of atmospheric air equal to 1696 cubical 
feet. " Dictum sapienti sat est" though a very old adage, will hold true 
as long as the world stands : "A word to a wise man is enough," and 
not one word need be said on the imperative necessity of getting rid, 
almost hourly, if possible, or daily at least, of this rapidly accumulating 
compound, causing mephitic exhalation from animal residua and fer- 
menting or decaying vegetable matter. 

* Vegetables, under the sun's rays, give out oxygen useful to animal 
life ; but in the shade and darkness, part with carbonic acid gas noxious 
to the same. Into a wide-necked bottle of the capacity of 2 lbs., place 
one ounce of fresh mulberry leaves, which, after corking and exposing 
to the action of the sun for an hour or more, uncork, invert, and intro- 
duce a lighted taper : the light will become brighter and larger, evincing 



j 



THE SILK WORM. 309 

Tiventy -third day. At this time nearly all the 
worms are roused, or have accomplished their fourth 
moulting. The laboratory should be of the tempera- 
ture of 68 or 70°; and the tenants, for they pay good 
rent, must be accommodated with premises equal to 
917 square feet, or 183^ square feet to each ounce of 
eggs. In the first day of the 5 th age, the worms 
should fill a space of about 508 feet square on the 
shelves, which added to the 413 feet which they oc- 
cupied during the last age, and which should now be 
cleaned,* form together the 921 feet square on which 
they are gradually to spread until the termination of 

the disengagement of oxygen from the vegetable. Into another similar 
bottle, put also an ounce of leaves, which, after corking, place in obscu- 
rity for about the same time ; then introduce a bird, or a lighted taper, 
and the bird will perish, or the light be extinguished, demonstrating the 
evolution of carbonic acid gas, instead of oxygen, as in the former case, 
from the same volume of vegetable matter in darkness and not in light. 

Many have thought that light was injurious to silk worms. How 
long before the days of alchemy, astrology, and Canidian conundrums 
end ! Were they made never to see the light in their native climes, or 
to live with owls and bats in Cimmerian caves, or to browse on Egyp- 
tian mummies, in darkened pyramids instead of mulberry leaves 1 On 
those sides of the hurdles on which the sun shone more freely, Count 
Dandolo found the silk worms more vigorous. He adds, " I have even 
seen the sun shining full on the worms, without their seeming annoyed 
by it. Had the rays been too hot, and shone too long on them, they 
might have suffered ; but this need not occur, and does not affect the 
question ; as I do not propose exposing the silk worms improperly to 
the sun, but only desire to show that the air is more vitiated, and that 
there is more damp in a dark laboratory than in a light one." 

* The young snoots should be directly distributed on 5 or 6 shelves, 
and should the shoots fail, bunches of leaves as before directed, may be 
substituted. As soon as the shoots are loaded with worms, they should 
be taken off. If the worms of one shelf be almost all roused, they will be 
sufficient to fill the space of rather more than two shelves. When 508 
square feet are filled, the shelves that are left empty should be cleansed. 
If in cleaning, any remaining worms should be found roused, by pre- 
senting some shoots or leaves, they may be taken off like the others. 
The sheets of paper with the litter, must be rolled up, and poured into 
the basket for this purpose ; notwithstanding that the litter which is just 
removed appears to be green, and without any unpleasant smell, yet the 
chlorine gas from the fumigatory bottle, or the chloride of lime should 
be used as before directed. 

In a large establishment of five ounces, at this moment, the attend- 
ance of six persons will be necessary. Two should lift and put the 
worms on the shelves, two carry them away, one should remove and 



310 THE SILK WORM. 



this state. This day about 90 lbs. of the young 
shoots of the ivhite mulberry -, or of common leaves 
not sorted, and also 90 lbs. of picked and sorted 
leaves; in all 180 lbs. which is equal to 144 lbs. of 
the leaves of the multicaulis. 

The 90 lbs. of shoots and leaves on which the silk 
worms were removed, furnish an abundant meal; 
the other 90 lbs. of sorted leaves should be divided 
into four meals, which should be given them every 
three hours. In giving the first meal, care must 
be taken to straighten the lines of the strips on the 
hurdles, by sweeping any straggling leaves or worms 
into regular order with a little broom. 

In the preceding age, 900 lbs. of leaves were dis- 
tributed, and the litter of that age, weighed 300 lbs. 
The worms therefore derived sustenance from 600 
lbs. of the substance including the loss by evapora- 
tion. The excrement weighed about 93 lbs. 

Twenty-fourth day. There will be wanted on this 
day, of the white mulberry, 270 lbs. of leaves sorted, 
and divided into eight feeds. The first should be the 
least, of about 26 lbs., and the last the most plentiful, 
or of about 4S lbs. Of the multicaulis 216 lbs. for the 
day : of which the first and last feeds 21 lbs., and 39 
lbs. respectively : the intermediate feeds increasing by 
a corresponding ratio. 

Twenty-fifth day. The worms will now require 
of the white mulberry 420 lbs. of sorted leaves ; di- 
vided into eight meals, the first smaller increasing to 
the last ; the intermediate feeds accordingly. Of the 
multicaulis 336 for the whole day. On this, and the 
preceding day, the worms continue to whiten ; many 
are now upwards of two inchee in length. 

Tiventy-sixth day. Our proportions, must be now, 
of the white mulberry, 540 lbs. of sorted leaves ; the 
intermediate feedings increasing by a corresponding 

place them on the hurdles, whilst the other must roll the papers and lit- 
ter, clean the hurdles, and carry out the dirt; and if judged necessary, 
an additional person may be employed in distributing shoots to the later 
silk worms, that all tilings may proceed without bustle or confusion. 



nff 



THE SILK WORM. 311 

ratio, of the multicaulis for the whole day 432 lbs. 
The voracious period of the worm is now rapidly ad- 
vancing. Some are now 2\ inches long. 

Twenty -seventh day. Of the white mulberry for 
the whole day, 810 lbs. of picked leaves will be 
wanted. Of the multicaulis, 648 lbs. for the whole day. 

If necessary the worms should now have interme- 
diate feeds. When the regular distribution of leaves 
is devoured in less than an hour and a half, the worms 
need not receive any until the regular feeding, which 
it is understood is every three hours. 

Twenty-eighth day. Give now of the white mul- 
berry, 975 lbs. of picked leaves, divided into eight 
feeds, the last of which to be the most abundant. Of 
the multicaulis 780 lbs. similarly divided. The silk 
worms eat now most voraciously, and some even at- 
tack the fruit which is among the leaves. An inter- 
mediate meal may be added when it appears neces- 
sary, as may be inferred when the full quantity ne- 
cessary to constitute a meal, is devoured within an 
hour. Some of the worms are now three inches long ; 
have become whiter, and present to the feeling a vel- 
vet surface. 

Twenty-ninth day. 900 lbs. of ivhite mulberry 
well sorted leaves will be required this day ; or 720 
lbs. of the multicaulis. The first meal should be the 
largest, the latter diminish gradually, but should the 
necessity of any intermediate meals be indicated, as 
it would by the sign already stated, it should at this 
important crisis be given. 

Some of the worms are now upwards of 3 inches 
in length : in certain cases, from extraordinary health 
and good attention, they are known, in this country 
to attain the length of even 4 inches. The extremity 
of the insect begins to grow shining and yellowish, 
their voracity to abate, which intimate their arrival 
at maturity: in size and weight, on an average, eleven 
of them will weigh 2 English ounces avoirdupois. 

Thirtieth day. The diminished appetite of our 
cocoonery-boarders requires now only 660 lbs. of the 



312 



THE SILK WORM. 



white mulberry leaves, well sorted ; of the multi- 
caulis, 528 lbs. to be given at eight meals ; the sub- 
sequent feeds to be gradually lessened. Give to 
backward worms, if necessary, intermediate meals. 

The increase of the yellow colour extending from 
ring to ring, the loss of the dark green, colour before 
marking the rings, the shining of the backs, their di- 
minishing bulk, and propensity to attach themselves 
to the edges of the hurdles to part with redundant 
matter, severally indicate their advance to maturity. 

Thirty-first day. Diminished wants now lessen 
our care to the provision of 495 lbs. only of the ivhite 
mulberry, or of 396 lbs. of the multicaulis ; which 
must now be distributed with care and discretion as 
wanted. 

Fig. 9. 




General remarks on the fourth age. Reckon- 
ing 240 lbs. of sorted leaves which are to be given 
to-morrow, or on the 32d day, the worms will have 
consumed during this fifth age, 5,490 lbs. of picked 
leaves. Adding to this, 510 lbs. of additional feed if 
required ; the total weight taken from the trees will 
be 6,000 lbs. 

The total weight of excrementitious matter drawn 
from the shelves in the fifth age, is about 3300 lbs. 
which demonstrates, that of (5490 — 3300) 2190 lbs. 
a part served to nourish the silk worms, and the rest 
exhaled in vapour. Calculating the weight of the 
leaves, and the loss by evaporation, the worms, it ap- 
pear, have consumed in their fifth age alone 1200 
lbs. of leaves per ounce. 

Thirty-second day. During this day the fifth age 
will be terminated and the rising begin. Every thing 
should be cleaned and kept clean. The silk worm 
will be now perfected, which may be known by the 
following signs, 1. When the insects, instead of eating 



THE SILK WORM. 313 

leaves put on the hurdles, get on them, and rear their 
heads, as if in search of something else. 2. When, on 
looking at them horizontally, the light shines through 
them, and they appear of a whitish yellow transparent 
colour. 3. When numbers of the worms which were 
fastened to the inside of the edges of the hurdles, and 
straightened, now get on the edges, and move slowly 
along ; instinct urging them to seek change of place. 
4. When numbers of worms leave the centre of the 
hurdles, and try to reach the edges and crawl up upon 
them. 5. When their rings draw in, and their green- 
ish colour changes to a deep golden hue. 6. When 
their skins become wrinkled about the neck, and their 
bodies have more softness to the touch than before ; 
and feel like soft dough. 7. When on taking a silk 
worm in the hand, and looking through it, the whole 
body appears to have assumed the transparency of a 
ripe yellow plum. These signs are prognostics of 
their rising. Of course every thing, before this, should 
have been prepared for the accommodation of the in- 
sects, that those which are ready may not waste their 
strength and silk, in seeking for the support they require. 

In another place, the arches, corners, angles or ca- 
bins, in which the silk worm spins,have been described 
as being part of the apparatus of the cocoonery. Some 
furnish them with oak branches, others with faggots, 
with straw set on end, and tied near the middle, or 
with other conveniences. Much depends on the taste 
of the cultivator; for on this point, though some 
methods are preferable to others, still opinions will 
differ, and not much difference will ensue in the co- 
coons when spun.* 

In adopting the plan recommended under the head 
of cocoonery, none of these slovenly appendages are 
required. They are in a few minutes in their cabins, 
and after looking about to ascertain in what position 

* The time occupied in feeding may be accelerated or retarded by the 
manner of feeding. Two or three hours are recommended in this book 
as the period between the times of feeding, and two feedings in the night. 
In this way they will mount a day or two and sometimes three days 

27 



314 THE SILK WORM. 

they should arrange their building, for the larva is pro- 
vident and has forecast, it commences to throw the floss 
around it. The spinning is now fairly commenced. 

Fig. 10. Showing the form in which the silk worm throws about its 
thread. 




The care hitherto commended has tended : — 

1st. To preserve the silk, contained in the secretors 
of the silk worm, in a constantly fluid state. 

2d. To keep the skin of the silk worm sufficiently 
dry, and constantly in the degree of contraction neces- 
sary, and without which the silk worm would perish. 

3d. To prevent the air from being corrupted, and 
which might make the silk worm ill, or cause its suf- 
focation, at those very periods when it most needs its 
highest vigour to pour out all the silk it contains. 

The silk worm has now mounted to spin, but some 
may yet linger. Proper care should be taken thorough- 
ly to clean the shelves and hurdles ; the lingering 
worms should be placed on a separate shelf, that all 
the cocoons formed in the cabins above it may be 
completed and gathered at the same time, which can 
thus be done at the earliest moment. To those re- 
moved a very small quantity of leaves should be given; 
but the slightest injury at this age should not be given 
them, being particularly hurtful. To these removed 
worms, instead of the usual cabins as in other cases, 
it is better to place in their way boughs of oak, or 
heads of broom corn. The lazy worms will soon be 
distributed among the branches and begin their work. 

When the worms begin to rise the greatest care 

earlier than when only fed three or four times in the 24 hours. But 
over feeding is injurious. The quantity requisite should be divided into 
proportions according to the period of the age. In coming out of the 
moulting or going into it, the feed should, as before remarked, be in- 
creased or diminished, the appetite of the worm sharpening or failing at 
such periods. 



THE SILK WORM. 315 

should be taken to keep the temperature equable. It 
should stand from 68° to 71° Fahrenheit, by means of 
the ventilators in the sides, roof and floors. They 
should also be kept as dry as possible, and all mois- 
ture from excrementitious or other causes must be 
carefully removed. Those that drop down while 
spinning must be carried to and placed with the lazy 
ones spoken of above. The air may be admitted freely 
when the cocoons have become of a proper consistency. 
Every diseased or dead worm, and all bad smells 
should also be carefully removed. 
Fig. 11. 




Sixth age. This age commences in the pupa 
state, and ends when the moth emerges from the co- 
coon. The following are the necessary things that 
remain to be done : 1st. To gather cocoons : 2d, To 
choose the cocoons which are to be preserved for the 
eggs or seed : 3d, Preservation of cocoons until the 
appearance of the moth : 4th, The daily loss of weight 
which the cocoons suffer from the time they are 
finished until the appearance of the moths. 

Gathering the cocoons for seed. In our description 
of the cocoonery or ateliere, some account of a place 
was also given for the matured caterpillar to mount 
and spin. We have seen them cease to eat, ascend 
to their cabins, elaborate their cocoons, and retire 
from the gaze of mortals. In three or four days from 
the commencement of the spinning the silk worms have 
finished their cocoons, and in seven or eight days* they 

* M. D'Homergue, says, eight days, but six days if there have been 
no thunder-storm, to interrupt the labours of the moth. 

Dr. Pascalis informs us that with the use of electricity, his silk worms 
have spun in 27 days from the hatchment. 



316 THE SILK WORM. 

will be ready for picking from their arches, cabins, 
bushes, or corners. The gathering should be perform- 
ed with care, as much waste of silk is thereby oc- 
casioned. The cocoons may be gathered in five days 
from being finished, but where they do not all mount 
on the same day it is possible that those may be culled 
that are not quite ripe with those that are. 

In gathering they should not be bruised, but carefully 
taken from their arches with all their floss. The floss 
should then be taken off with great delicacy, the fibres 
not pierced, and the cocoons not flattened or bruised. 
They should then be sorted ; this is best done at the 
time and by the person who takes off the floss. Sort- 
ing is selecting those intended for seed, by placing them 
in a separate place, always putting the imperfect, soiled, 
or those otherwise injured by themselves. Fourteen 
ounces of selected cocoons are equal to one ounce of 
eggs, and one ounce of eggs will make 120 lbs. 
weight of cocoons. In selecting the cocoons for eggs 
the white are to be preferred. An equal number of 
the male and female cocoons should also be selected ; 
which may be known by the male cocoon being 
smaller than the female, depressed in the middle as it 
were with a ligature, and somewhat sharp at one or 
both ends, with' a greater degree of hardness in those 
parts. The female cocoons are larger than the male ; 
are round, full, not much, and often not at all depressed 
in the middle, and more obtuse at each end. The 
moth makes its appearance in from ten to fifteen days. 
Some think that all balls perfectly formed are equally 
good — others deny this; the truth seems to be that 
few well constituted balls will not give well constitu- 
tioned moths and eggs. 

3. Preservation of cocoons intended for producing 
eggs. Experience shows that where the temperature 
of the room is above 73° the transition of the chrysalis 
to the moth state would be too rapid, and the coupling 
would not be productive. If below 66° the develop- 
ment of the moth is tardy, which is also injurious. 
Damp air will change it into a weak and sickly moth. 



THE SILK WORM. 317 

The apartment should, therefore, be kept in an even 
dry temperature, between 66° and 73°. When col- 
lected, spread the cocoons on a dry floor, or oq tables, 
and strip them clean of down or floss, to prevent the 
feet of the moth being entangled in it when coming 
out ; while cleaning them, all those that appear to 
have any defect should be laid aside. This is the 
time, also, to separate the male and female cocoons, as 
far as we can distinguish them. 

4. The daily loss in weight of cocoons of 1000 oz., 
from the time of formation, till the moth escapes from 
them, is thus tabularly stated by Count Dandolo. 

ounces. 
Gathered from the cabins, fagots, &c, and cleaned, the ? 

cocoons weighed 3 

First day following, the said cocoons weighed 991 

Second day 992 

Third day 975 

Fourth day 970 

Fifth day , 966 

Sixth day 960 

Seventh day 952 

Eighth day 943 

Ninth day 934 

Tenth day 925 

It is a loss for the purchaser of cocoons, to receive 
those that are of different ages, because, when in 
some cocoons the moth is preparing to come forth, and 
other cocoons are not so forward, the spinners are at 
a loss whether to let it come directly, or to kill the 
chrysalis to preserve the cocoon. If the rules which 
have been given, be exactly followed, this loss will be 
avoided, and the cocoons will be perfectly formed, and 
ready to be reeled off, at the end of seven days, reck- 
oning from the day they first rose on the bushes or 
frames. By reeling off the cocoon between the period 
in which they are formed, and. that in which they 
pierce the cocoon to make their exit, the silk is of a 
much better quality, and the necessity of killing the 
chrysalis is obviated. 

Fig. 12. The pupa of the bombyx. 




318 THE SILK WORM. 

The Seventh age of the Silk Worm. This age 
completes the entire life of the moth. 

When the papa, aurelia, or chrysalis, has com- 
pleted its transformation in the cocoon, and is ready 
to depart, it puts forth a liquid, some affirm an acid, 
to dissolve the gum ; and having softened the point 
through which it intends to make a passage, in defi- 
ance of the maxim vestigia nulla retrorsum, it 
forces its beak through the fibres of the cocoon, and 
with two or three efforts, makes its exodus from its 
prison into open day. Sometimes the moth does not 
injure the cocoon from winding, but generally it does 
so, and such cocoons are therefore usually set aside 
for floss, to be carded and spun like cotton. Some- 
times the moth gets entangled in the fibres, or the 
cocoon is too hard for the feeble moth, and she depo- 
sites her eggs in the cocoon, and dies there, or dies 
before this deposit. They should always be left to 
their own unassisted efforts. Nature will do more 
for them than art, and if a few should die, that few 
will be less than if the operation which some resort 
to of cutting open a way for them were resorted to. 
At such times, the cocoons should be spread thin on 
tables ; their natural mode is to put forth their heads 
and legs first, as they help themselves by laying hold 
on something with their feet and antennas, to drag 
out the remainder of their body. They live, after 
leaving the cocoon, from five to twelve days, accord- 
ing to the temperature to which they are exposed. 
The moths do not come forth the first and second 
days; they are chiefly hatched the fourth, fifth, sixth, 
and seventh days, according to the degree of heat 
in which they are kept. The hours in which the 
moths burst the cocoons in greatest number, are the 
first three or four after sunrise, if the temperature be 
from 64° to 66°. The male moths, the very moment 
they come out, go eagerly in quest of the female. When 
they are united, they must be placed on sheets of 
newspapers, or some such thing, so that when soiled 
they may be thrown away. Much care must 



THE SILK WORM. 319 

be taken in raising the united moths. They must 
be held by the wings, so as not to separate them ; but 
it is better not to remove or disturb them when cou- 
pled. It is sometimes- the case that the male and 
female must be brought together. When a shelf or 
table is filled with moths in a state of union, the room 
should be made so dark that a person can hardly see 
in it. If there be more males than females, separate 
the unmated from them. They may be easily known, 
as the body of the female is nearly twice the size of 
the male ; besides, the male keeps constantly flutter- 
ing in the light. The hour of junction should be 
noted, and if any disunite, they ought again to be 
brought together ; light injures them; the flattering 
weakens, and causes a loss of their vital, and conse- 
quently fecundating powers. The cocoons from 
which they emerged should be put away, and as soon 
as the moths separate, after a sufficient time for con- 
junction, the males should be thrown away. During 
this period, the attention must be minute and constant. 
Separation of the moths and laying of eggs. 
The male and female moths, at the proper time, if in 
proximity, will usually unite of their own accord; 
but where they do not, they should be brought by 
the superintendent into juxtaposition. After being 
coupled, they should be permitted to remain till they 
separate of themselves. European writers recom- 
mend that they be separated after six hours; but 
this is not consonant with the laws of nature, which 
are always the best guide in the instincts of insects 
and animals. If they separate prematurely, they 
ought again to be brought together. Let the place be 
dark. The most vigorous of the males must now be 
placed with the unmated females. Should the males 
be deficient in numbers, let the separated males be 
put in a dark box, and united to females having no 
mate. The females are not injured by waiting for the 
males a few hours, the only loss sustained is a few 
unimpregnated eggs. While they are thus united, 
have clean cotton calico, white or coloured; or sheets 



320 THE SILK WORM. 

of white printing paper ready. M. Deslongchamps 
says, he has used the male moth successfully for six 
couplings, and the male, after the sixth union, was as 
lively and brisk as at first ; and it is said the eggs of 
the thirteenth coupling had all the characters of those 
of the best quality. The disunion, however, had 
always to be effected with the hands. Should this 
practice be found to answer, many cocoons may be 
saved for winding, which otherwise would be pierced 
by the male moth. 

The moths having all been separated, and the 
males thrown away, the females are laid upon white 
or any light-coloured paper, calico, or linen, in such 
order that they may deposite their eggs. They should 
have space to deposite their eggs, and to remain from 
36 to 40 hours untouched. If the papers or cloths 
are not covered, other females should be laid in the 
vacant spaces. The temperature should be 65° to 
80°. Unimpregnated eggs will appear yellow, and 
remain so. Those imperfectly so, reddish, and will 
not produce worms. If a moth of a sulphur colour 
be united with one of a white, a handsome orange 
will be produced. The colour, says Mr. Swayne, 
depends chiefly upon the female. Eight or ten days 
after the deposition of the eggs, the jonquil colour 
peculiar to them will change to a reddish gray, and 
afterwards into pale clay hue ; the form is lenticular, 
with a slight depression on both surfaces. 

Preservation of the eggs. When the eggs 
have been deposited on dry cloths, and passed 
through their several changes of colour, as before 
described, the cloths or paper on which the eggs have 
been deposited, must be folded so as to admit air into 
them, to prevent them from heating. The air should 
be dry, not above 50°, and not below zero. Some 
think they should not be exposed to frost ; but this is 
an error ; they have been repeatedly so exposed down 
to zero, and have subsequently been hatched, and 
produced an abundant crop. It is, as before said, 
sudden changes that affect the egg. Much has 



THE SILK WORM. 321 

been said and written upon this subject, by men pro- 
fessing great experience, certainly without having 
made an experiment. If they can be kept between 
32° and 55°, without injury from damp, the eggs may 
be regarded as perfectly sound. They must be pre- 
served from all insects, vermin, and other enemies, as 
all insects, birds, and vermin greedily devour them. 
" Good keeping will produce good worms," said Mr. 
Fally, and if properly treated, ivill never degenerate 
in this climate. 



Fig. 13. 




Stifling the Chrysalides. — Where the quantity 
of cocoons is small, the necessity of curing may be su- 
perseded, by immediate reeling ; or if the culturist has 
on his premises an ice house in which to deposit the 
cocoons, the necessity is obviated, as the chrysalis will 
remain in a passive state, until brought to a temperature 
of from 40° to 50°. This system is advisable where 
practicable, since stifling by baking and other pro- 
cesses, is in some degree injurious. Otherwise, the 
moth must be destroyed, between the 4th and 12th 
day at furthest after the completion of the cocoon, or it 
will cut its way through, and thus render the reeling 
of its work impracticable. There are several methods 
of killing the pupa. 1st, by baking in an oven of the 
temperature of 88° or 89° wherein the cocoons are 
shut from 4 to 6 hours, after being first placed in bags 
which must be occasionally turned or moved to effect 
an equal exposure. 2d, by the sun's rays at a tem- 
perature of about 8S°, in which they may be left for 
three days from 9 o'clock a.m. to 4 p.m. 3d, by steam. 
For this purpose, place the cocoons in a basket lined 



322 THE SILK WORM. 

with three or four folds of woollen cloth to promote the 
equal dispersion of the steam. Suffer the cocoons to 
remain in this basket, of dimensions such as to cover 
the mouth of the kettle, after the basket, raised on 
two pieces of intervening wood, has been placed over 
the kettle with water kept boiling over the fire. 4th, 
by suffocation in the gas from charcoal, which is 
effected by simply shutting the cocoons up for a night 
in a close room, wherein a pot of burning charcoal is 
placed. This last process is said to be the invention 
of G. B. Smith Esq., of Baltimore, and to be the least 
injurious. 



PART IV. 

REELING, THROWSTING, DYEING, AND WEAVING. 



CHAPTER I. 

Reeling. — The word filature has two meanings ; it is called 
by some reeling, and by others the place where the reeling is per- 
formed. The operation of winding or reeling from the cocoon is 
called, in French, filer, to spin ; the word filature, a derivative from 
filer, means, therefore, an establishment where the reeling is per- 
formed. 

Reeling. Before the process of reeling is described, the cha- 
racter of the cocoons to be selected for the filature should be under- 
stood. In another place has been mentioned the method of sorting 
the cocoons for breeding, the cocoons not thus appropriated are 
divided into nine different qualities, namely : — 

1. Good Cocoons, or those fully brought to perfection. These 
are not always the largest, but are compact and free from spots. 

2. Pointed Cocoons, or those having one end rising in a point, 
these give out their thread in reeling a short time, then break or 
tear at the point where the silk is weak, and can be wound no 
further. 

3. Cocalons, or cocoons that are larger than the regular co- 
coons, but do not contain more silk ; their texture being less com- 
pact. These in winding, must be immersed in cold water, as 
they furze and become tangled in the operation. They should be 
separated from the others and laid by themselves. 

4. Dupions, or double cocoons. The threads of these are so inter- 
twined that they frequently break in reeling, and sometimes can- 
not be wound at all. These are usually one per cent, of the whole 
quantity. 

5. Soufflons. These are very imperfect cocoons, with a loose 
contexture, and are often transparent. They cannot be wound. 

6. Perforated Cocoons. Or those that have been pierced at 
the end, and the filament broken by the moth, they cannot there- 
fore be reeled. 

7. Good Choquettes. Or cocoons, wherein the insects have 
died before perfecting the task. These when shaken do not rat- 
tle, the worms adhering to them. These are as fine, but not so 

323 



324 REELING. 

strong and brilliant as the first named. They are apt to furze and 
must be reeled separately. 

8. Bad Choquettes. Or defective cocoons, spotted or rotten. 
They furnish foul bad silk, and of a blackish colour. 

9. Calcined Cocoons. Or those wherein the worms, after 
completing their cells, are attacked by a peculiar disease, which 
sometimes petrifies them, and at other times reduces them to white 
powder. In the former case they are called comfit cocoons. 
These cocoons are of the very best quality, and in Piedmont sell 
for half as much more as good cocoons. They are rarely met 
with. 

The cocoons on the mountains are considered better than those 
produced on the plains. They contain more of the white, but the 
balls are less, and the worms in proportion smaller. 
The relative value of cocoons has been stated thus : — 

Good cocoons 100 

Perforated 33| 

Soufflons 25 

Royal cocoons for seed 250 

Royal cocoons not for seed 200 

Royal cocoons pierced by the moth are spun with the soufHons, &c. 
Much pains have been taken by a recent writer to throw mystery 
about the operations of the filature, and he would make us believe 
that the business is impracticable without an apprenticeship of 
seven or ten years. There is no doubt much of the secret lies in 
practice ; but among the intelligent classes of Americans who read, 
think, and act — who have well constructed minds and ready hands, 
to acquire this art will neither require seven i/ears, nor, we had al- 
most said, seven weeks. It is an operation of every day's perform- 
ance, and the person who devotes himself to the work will soon 
know his business correctly if he possess good sense. 

Before explaining the operations of the filature, an explana- 
tion of the Piedmontese reel, certainly the best known to us, not- 
withstanding all the improvements* that have been made to it by 
various mechanics throughout our country, may be proper. 

The Silk Reel of Piedmont. 

The frame is 6 feet 5 inches long, 4^ by 3 inches thick. Dis- 
tance of the upright posts A, B, 4 feet 4f inches. 

C C. Length of the braces of the frame, 20 inches in the clear. 
D D, legs of the frame, 2 feet 3^ inches long. E, shaft with 
a crown wheel at each end. The wheel F, 9 inches and T V in 
circumference, has 22 teeth, The wheel G, 10 inches and y 2 ^ in 
circumference, has 25 teeth. This shaft has an iron pin at each 

* The improvements heretofore made oh the Piedmontese reel in this 
country, puts us in mind of the account presented by an Irish farrier to 
a nobleman for whose horse he had prescribed. One item was, " to cur- 
ing your honour's horse that died." 



325 




MO 



6m 



end, 1 inch long. The pin at the end G plays in a hole in the 
shoulder near the top of the post 0, so as to enable the teeth of 
the wheel to catch and work in those of the pinion at the end of 
the axle of the reel, which axle, by means of a pin at the end, also 
plays in a hole in the post 0. The pin at the other end of the 
shaft, plays in a hole of the post K, and the teeth of the wheel F 
work in the pinion H, fixed on the top of the post K by means 
of a burr screwed on the pin projecting from the post, and passing 
through the eentre of the pinion. This pinion has 35 teeth.* On 
the top of the pinion H is a crank, having a sweep of 4 inches, 
and receives, on its top, the end of the iron (it should be brass) 
wire carrier of the traversing bar I. The crank is fixed half an 
inch from the commencement of the grooves of the pinion. This 
crank is shown in the figure H. I, a traversing bar, 2 feet 10 
inehes long, f of an inch wide, £ of an inch thick, and playing 
through the posts B, K ; height of the post from the frame 17 
inches. 

L, a brass carrier of wire, No. 1, IS inches long, fixed to the 
bar I, to work free by a screw. The other end is fixed by a burr, 
to the pin passing through the centre of the pinion H. 

M M. Two wire hooks or eyes, (rampins,) 7f inches apart, 
at equal distances from the ends of the traversing bar, through 

* In all the works published in this country which we have seen, the 
word here put teeth is erroneously called feet. We are indebted to M. 
d'Homergue for this correction, though his own book contains the error. 

28 



326 REELING. 

which they pass. The wires to the commencement of the turns 
of the hooks, are 5 inches in length. 

N, the reel arms, 2 feet 2 inches and T V long in the clear; 1£ 
inches wide, and T % of an inch thick ; rails 20£ inches long, 2 
inches broad, -^ of an inch thick ; two of the arms are jointed, to 
allow the skeins of silk to be taken off, when reeled and quite dry. 
There ought to be an extra reel to put in the place of the one 
taken off, to prevent the work stopping. 

O, upright support for the axle of the reel, on the ends of 
which the pinion is fixed, to work with the wheel G at the end 
of the shaft E. The pinion of the axle has 22 teeth. P, a brass 
plate with 4 holes 20 inches (not 12 inches as quoted by various 
authorities) in the clear, slightly hollowed, projecting 3^ inches 
from the bar; the piece thus projecting 3^ inches from the bar, 
contains four holes, so arrranged that from the centre of the one 
to the centre of the other is ^ of an inch, but the four to be in the 
exact centre, that is, equidistant from each end of the bar. Dis- 
tance from the two inside and nearest holes 4 inches and T ^. 

Q, the copper basin to contain hot water, in which the cocoons 
are immersed when reeling off. It is 18 inches long, 1 foot broad 
and 4^ inches deep. 

R, the furnace to contain charcoal and keep the water hot. 

Distance from the centre of the posts A, B, and 0, K, 36£ 
inches. Circumference of the reel or aspel 6 l k feet. Distance 
from the top of one arm, where it enters the rail, to another arm, 
18£ inches. 

From the axle of the aspel and the traversing bar T, 4 8 T feet. 
The law of Piedmont says 3 feet 4 inches and § the American 
measure — that is from the guide wires and the centre of the reel. 
Seven rotations of the reel causes the traversing bar to move five 
times from side to side. 

The foregoing is a description of the most approved reel now 
known in Europe or America. The description and cut will en- 
able any respectable mechanic to construct one in all its parts. It 
is said that this reel has recently been very much improved by 
M. Gensoul, a French engineer, but in what these improvements 
consists is not known in this country. 

The reeling should be performed in dry weather, and women 
are preferred to men, having smoother fingers, the fibres being 
often broken by the rough hands of men. The air should be 
calm ; the building lofty, open on one side and exposed to the 
sun and air, but sheltered from the winds. A chimney or flue 
should conduct the steam from the place of operation, and the 
building should be so wide that when the winders are arranged on 
each side the manager should have a central passage to enable 
him to overlook the work. It is supposed that the floss has been 
stripped from all the cocoons intended to be reeled, and that the 
imperfect cocoons have been carefully separated from them. 

When the apparatus is ready, the softest water must be chosen 



REELING. 327 

for soaking the cocoons. Experience must in general regulate 
the temperature ; but until that is obtained, we shall lend our as- 
sistance. Some silk requires more, others less heat, some require 
water from 168° to 190" ; others from 190° to 202°. Some point 
between these should be chosen, and here a good thermometer is 
almost indispensable until the superintendent has, by frequently- 
feeling the water, become familiar with the degrees of tempera- 
ture, which he will by attention soon do. The temperature should 
never reach the boiling point, or 212°. 

The good white and yellow cocoons are most easily wound. 
Cocalons call for the greatest care and skill ; they require cooler 
water, and if expertly managed, they will then make silk equal 
to the best, but they furze out in hot water while winding. The 
dupions, choquettes, and steamed or baked cocoons in stifling, if 
kept a long time, require the hottest water. The dupions require 
soaking for five or six minutes before being reeled. The un- 
steamed or unbaked cocoons give off their fibres very freely, and 
require a lower temperature in the copper. The fire under the 
copper, should be increased or diminished according to the de- 
scription of cocoons to be reeled, the characteristics of which are 
stated above. 

The intention of the hot water is to soften the gummy sub- 
stance they contain, and thereby facilitate the winding of the 
filaments. The person having the management of the reeling 
should be prepared wilh a whisk of broom-corn, or of birch twigs, 
eut sharp at the points ; and being seated on the opposite side of 
the basin from the reel and facing it, the water being of the 
requisite temperature, and the basin on a charcoal furnace, he 
must throw into the basin a handful or two of cocoons of one sort 
and quality. They should then be pressed gently under the 
water for two or three minutes, in order to soften the gum and 
loosen the filaments. He should then stir the cocoons with the 
whisk, lightly and gently, just touching them, until one of the 
fibres adhere to it, when, disengaging it and laying down the 
whisk, he must draw the filament towards him until it discharges 
itself freely from the floss or coarse silk which adheres to the co- 
coon, and the fine silk appears. The thread is then broken ; the 
loose floss collected and laid carefully away ; the whisk is re- 
sumed, repeating the process, in each instance laying the col- 
lected fibres separately on some frame of wood near the furnace 
for that purpose,- or on the edge of the copper in which are the 
cocoons, until so many fibres have been collected as are designed 
to make a strand of fibres. These are placed together and drawn 
through the outer or inner of the holes in the brass plate, resting 
horizontally over the copper. The same process is repeated until 
another strand is collected and also carried through the corres- 
ponding inner or outer hole in the brass plate. The preparatory 
operations are called the battue. If the strands are coarse they 
are carried through the inner and nearer holes ; if fine, through 



32S REELING. 

the most distant and outer holes. After being thus passed 
through these holes, they must be crossed or put round one 
another, in the manner in which a rope of two strands is 
twisted, for about 20 to 25 times, before being carried through 
the rampins or guide hooks M M of the traversing bar I, which 
should be made of brass or copper wire, as iron oxidizes and be- 
comes in a short time rough. They are then carried forward and 
fastened to one of the arms of the aspel or reel N. The distance 
between the rampins on the traversing bar, is that which must 
regulate the distance of the threads on the reel; it being under- 
stood that two hanks are reeled at the same time. The filaments 
should not be allowed to cross until brought together at the holes 
in the brass plate P. In reeling, if the silk filaments come off 
in burrs or knobs, the water is too hot, and should be imme- 
diately cooled by stopping the draught of the furnace. 

In commencing the operation, one person should turn the reel, 
and another attend the copper. The winding should begin slowly 
with a regular motion, until the threads run freely and easily. 
Should some of the threads prove false, as they sometimes will, a 
new one must be added to complete the number intended for the 
strand or thread. The new end required to be added is always 
thrown into the centre and is drawn up with the rest. A few 
additional cocoons should always be in the copper, with their 
ends ready to supply any that may run out, thereby keeping the 
strand uniform in size, which is one of the perfections of reeling. 
The crossing of the threads forming the two strands thrown on 
the aspel during the operation, is intended to give them a proper 
roundness. It aids in drying the threads, causes floating fibres 
to adhere, prevents the injurious gluing of the threads on the 
aspel, and by its rotary friction removes their inequalities and 
roughness, and thus causes a perfect adhesion of the fibres, in- 
sures their strength, uniform thickness, and cylindrical form; 
without it they would be flat. Fine silk may be crossed 18 or 
20 times ; coarse 20 to 25 times. A law of Piedmont regulat- 
ing this procedure, appoints officers to inspect the filatures in 
order to preserve the character of their raw silk. 

We have now the reel in motion ; the operation, slow at first, 
increases in speed if the balls give out freely ; but if they leap up 
towards the brass plate P, the speed must be slackened, and the 
spinner, who attends the balls, directs the motion. He then 
strikes his hand down the fibre, and places the ball again in the 
water, and increases somewhat the temperature of the water in 
the copper. The speed must now be increased or diminished> 
the motion always regular and equable. If the cocoons become 
blurry or in knots, the speed should be accelerated to the quickest 
motion, without endangering the breaking of the threads, or pre- 
venting the spinner from supplying the strand with fresh fibres 
to keep it even as the old ones run out. 

The quicker the motion of the reel, the better the cocoons wind 



REELING. 32& 

off, and the better the ends join to the thread. The fibres, when 
given off freely, are less likely to break by a quick than by a 
slow motion. The threads do not intermix on the reel, they are 
distributed in such manner, that each thread ranges within a cer- 
tain limit upon the aspie, and no two threads lie upon the same 
track, the traversing bar distributing- them so regularly, that it 
requires as some say 400, and others even 800 revolutions of the 
reel, before a thread lies upon the same exact course of any pre- 
vious one. The intention of this is to prevent the strands from 
lying- tog-ether, lest the gum should prevent their being unwound, 
and also to enable them to dry on the reel, so that an equal de- 
gree of tension may be preserved. When the skeins are finished, 
another asple should replace the one just used, so that while the 
first one is set aside to dry, the second may be in operation. It is 
clear then that the spinner must be always replacing and having 
in readiness fresh cocoons, while the reel is in motion, so that no 
delay may be occasioned in the process. The operation is uni- 
form, and constant attention and repetition will enable any person 
to acquire experience in a few days, if not hours. The size of 
the strand of filaments is regulated by the purpose for which 
such silk is intended. They vary from five to twenty or more 
fibres, according to circumstances. There should be no more 
cocoons thrown into the copper than is intended to be wound, as 
by being too much soaked in the hot water, they are apt to wind off 
in blurrs. The cocoons should be equally soaked, and when thrown 
in, kept under, as they are apt to swim until saturated with the 
water." In joining a new end to the strand, it may be necessary 
sometimes to place it along with one in the winding, by rubbing 
them with the fingers, or gently pressing them. The art of 
uniting threads is acquired only by practice. The difficulty of 
keeping the threads even is great. The filament of each ball, is 
not of equal tenuity throughout, and the skill of the reeler is 
therefore required, so to arrange and bring them together, that 
the same thickness may be continuously preserved throughout 
the skein. This perfect equality is so difficult of attainment, 
that the degree of substance in the silk is never exactly defined ; 
and with the exception of threads of two cocoons so called, silks 
are not distinguished as those produced from three, four, or five 
fibres, are said to be of three to four, four to five, or five to six 
cocoons. Coarser skeins are not even so nicely defined ; but are 
called from twelve to fifteen, from fifteen to twenty cocoons, and 
so on. In beginning a thread of ten cocoons, from sixteen to 
twenty will sometimes be required to preserve the uniform thread, 
after a portion of the first layer has been unwound. 

The quantity of silk reeled in a given time depends on the 
quickness of the spinner in supplying fibres to the thread from 
fresh cocoons. The spinner should have at her side a bowl of 
cold water, and also some chips or shavings, with which to re- 
gulate the temperature of the water in the copper. The cold 
28* 



330 REELING. 

water is also necessary to cool her fingers in when too much 
heated. The facility of reeling depends much on a right tempe- 
rature of the water. If too hot, the thread is technical ly dead, if 
too cold, the ends will not join well, and the silk will be harsh. 
The winding cannot be performed in cold water, as the fibres 
easily break, and with the least moisture, the filaments of the 
strand or thread separate, which is not the case when hot water 
is used. 

In some of the French filatures, particularly at Cevennes, the 
following plan is adopted in reeling. " In preparing fine silk, 
the cocoons are not wound off entirely, so as to leave the pellicle 
of the chrysalis bare, for two reasons : first, because the addi- 
tional fibre required to be added, when the first and strong part 
of the fibre is observed to be spent, might make the compound 
thread too stout, and thus cause a waste of silk ; secondly, be- 
cause the fibre of a cocoon which has been entirely wound off, 
besides being weak, also abounds in knots, which would cause 
it to break in winding, and injure its uniformity, in which the 
goodness of the thread mainly consists. Therefore, in winding 
fine silk, when the cocoon has given off three-fourths and a half 
of silk, that is, about 325 yards, it must be replaced by another 
cocoon ; the remainder of the first cocoons must be set aside, 
and their silk added to that of an inferior quality. When the 
first parcel of cocoons is nearly finished, take out, with the ladle, 
all those on which some silk has been left ; let them be opened, 
the chrysalides taken out, and the shells put in a basket with 
the floss first pulled off. Those cocoons which are partly wound 
off must on no account be permitted to remain in the basin ; for 
they will obscure, and thicken the water, and injure the colour 
and lustre of the silk, which can then be used only for dark 
colours; besides this, the consistency of the silk is injured, and 
waste ensues in the winding. The shells must be imme- 
diately buried, or placed among the composts for manure. As a 
general rule, the water in the copper should be changed as often 
as discoloured. On commencing, the holes and rampins should 
be always wet, to cause the thread to run easily. The waste 
silk, whether the remains of cocoons, or of the floss collected 
in the battue, should be carefully put aside. " Gather up the 
fragments, that nothing be lost," is i good rule in this case. 
Carded and spun like cotton, it will compose excellent fabrics. 
The geering of the reel should always be complete ; the mortise 
in which the traversing bar plays should be oiled, the cog-wheels 
should play in proper contact ; and the bassinatts, or defective 
cocoons found in the copper, which will not wind off with the 
good ones, being full of knobs, must be taken out of the copper, 
and kept and wound by themselves. The breaking of the fila- 
ments arises from ill-formed cocoons, or the improper heat of the 
water. The whole thread is sometimes broken in its passage from 
the copper to the reel, through the stopping of loops in the layer 



REELING. 331 

by knobs, or by the reel being turned by a jerking motion. They 
should not be knotted, but slightly twisted, which will sufficiently 
unite them. The value of silk is increased or diminished accord- 
ing to the quantity of knobs or knots with which the raw silk 
abounds. If the silk be clean when the skein is opened, it is a 
sign of being well reeled. 

The soufflons, royal cocoons pierced, and other perforated and 
imperfect cocoons, which will not stand the filature, are boiled in 
water, the soufflons for half an hour, the perforated cocoons 
somewhat longer, and the royal cocoons a full hour. They then 
undergo a process to reduce the chrysalides, and prepare them 
for making Jieuret. Boiling and heating will increase their beauty. 
Of fleuret, the royal cocoons make the best, next the perforated, 
and lastly the sourHon cocoons. The coarse floss and refuse of 
the spinning, make very inferior silk. The cocoons from which 
the moth has escaped, it has been shown, can be frequently reeled 
as well as the best. 

When the spinner leaves off work for a time, the cocoons 
should be all raised out of the water with a ladle, till his return. 
The better practice, however, is to let fresh hands relieve the 
spinner and reeler, and keep the operation in motion throughout 
the day. The reeler should watch the threads and the rampins, 
that he may apprise the spinner when any thing is wrong, 
for his eyes will be sufficiently engaged about the cocoons. 
The reeler should be instructed to rectify any thing amiss in the 
thread near the reel, one hand being always unemployed. No 
sand should be allowed in the water, as it will cut the fibres as 
would a knife. The water containing it should be immediately 
renewed. In a large filature, a boiler might be constructed to 
supply the coppers or tin basins, and the latter be supplied 
with heat from chips, to regulate the temperature, as charcoal, 
unless in a fireplace, is dangerous, from the carbonic acid gas 
evolved in combustion. In using the whisk, and in reeling, the 
temperature of the water is soon ascertained, as, if too hot, the 
cocoons rise to the brass plates, come off in blurrs, or are drawn 
off by the whisk in lumps. If too cold, the whisk will not catch 
the ends of the fibres. 

A woman at Novi, in Piedmont, says one authority, will reel 
one pound of silk in a day. Another says, with later improve- 
ments, three pounds in twelve hours. Neither of them have stated 
precisely the character of the material. One may with three 
fibres reel a pound, while another with nineteen or twenty may 
reel three pounds with less labour. Most of our statistics are 
thus indefinitely prepared. M. Nouaille says a reeler and spin- 
ner can produce one pound of four ox jive cocoons. This is to the 
point, and means something. All agree that careful experienced 
spinners will from the same material make a difference of 1£ 
ounce of reeled silk in from 7 to 8 lbs. of cocoons. 



332 REELING. 

When the necessary quantity has been reeled to form a hank, 
pick off the loose fibres, then take a handful of the coarse silk, 
and, after washing and squeezing it, dip it lightly in cold water, 
and with it rub the silk on the reel, at the same time stroking it 
with the palm of the hand. Open the windows, turn the aspic 
or reel with a rapid movement for eight or ten minutes to dry the 
silk, then lay the asple aside, and place another on the reel and 
proceed as before. The reeled silk with the asple should be left 
in a dry place where the sun does not shine. This operation 
adds greatly to its lustrous appearance. The Piedinontese law 
forbids any thing but the dry palm of the hand to be used. 

To reel dupions, the water must be boiling hot. The reeler, 
when the machine stops for the spinner to get ready, should pick 
off the loose floss and lumps from the silk on the asple. The 
strand should contain from 18 to 20, when intended for sewing 
silk, or from 40 to 50 for coarse stuffs. Good choquettes have from 
7 to 8 in the strand, and bad choquettes or chiques, as they are 
sometimes called, from 15 to 20 fibres in the thread or strand. 
The satiny cocoons do not require the water to be so hot, but 
regulated as the cocoons are free, or otherwise, to give off their 
fibres. The water in the copper should be changed often, and a 
few only put in at a time. Before throwsting the silk is examined 
and selected so that different kinds may not be in the same par- 
cel. Where the silk is of a good quality and well reeled, this 
tedious and expensive process may be dispensed with. The 
Piedinontese government have strict laws, obviously intended to 
insure the quality of the silk and sustain its reputation, but actu- 
ally to preserve in the hands of the wealthy a monopoly of the 
business, whereby the poorer cultivators are unjustly restricted 
from the conversion of their own produce, or to derive from their 
own labours the advantages of which they are capable. 

Disbanding the silk from the reel. This is a simple opera- 
tion, but yet judgment is requisite. The cocoons, if not well 
sorted in reeling, will produce different degrees of tension ; and 
this will be somewhat the case under all circumstances. To 
obviate this difficulty is an important point. Some cocoons, be- 
ing longer in the water than others, will contribute to this cause. 
They do not all give off their fibres with equal facility, and hence 
an inequality of tension, which, though slight, has its injurious 
effects. To make the disbanding perfect, the skein should re- 
main six or eight hours on the asple, which brings any inequality 
of tension more uniform. By this time the threads are dried and 
the fibres united : an important point. Before disbanding, the 
several hanks should be squeezed close together, the end of the 
strand marked so that, when it is to be unwound, it may be easily 
discovered ; the hanks are then tied with threads of the refuse 
silk, at the places where they bore on the bars, and also at the op- 
posite end to the first tie ; it may then be slided off the bars, 
doubled and laid by in a dry place. 



THROWSTING. 333 

THROWSTING OR TWISTING. 

Before describing the process of throwsting or twisting silk, it 
may be necessary to explain the several changes into which raw- 
silk passes, in preparing it for the loom. These may be classed 
under six heads, and we will name them in the order in which 
they stand as respects value and fineness. It may be proper to 
remark that thrown silk is that which has been twisted in a mill 
or machine called a throwsting machine, by placing as many fila- 
ments together of the raw silk as is intended to make the de- 
signed material. The raw silk is always assorted and thrown 
with reference to its fineness or adaptation to certain fabrics. 

1. Singles ; or silk of the first quality. 

2. Organzine ; or silk of the second quality. 

3. Tram ; or silk of the third quality. 

4. Sewing silk of the first and second quality. 

5. Cordonnet; or twist of the first and second quality. 

6. Filoselle ; or floss, fleuret, flurt, or ferret silk. 

The silk, when prepared as above, is said in England to be 
throwsted, and in French to be moulinee or milled. The choquettes 
or chiques is a thread prepared in a different way for the manufac- 
ture. The five former of the enumerated classes of silk, namely, 
singles, organzine, tram, and sewing silk and twist or cordonnet, 
are twisted on le moulin a tordre, or the throwsting mill, and the 
latter on the travelle, a machine made on the same principle, but 
of smaller dimensions. The floss is made by carding and 
spinning as cotton, and is to the finer silk what tow is to flax. 

Singles ; called le poil, (Fr.,) or hair silk, is made from the 
first quality of raw 7 silk, and is throwsted single as unwound from 
the swifts. It is used for woof, or shoot, when the warp is con- 
stituted of cotton. 

Organzine, or organsin (Fr.) is the next in fineness, and is 
used for warp of stuffs made of silk. 

Tram, or la tram, (Fr.,) which means woof, is the third in 
quality, contains the greatest number of fibres, and is used when 
all the cloth or stuff is to be of silk. 

Sewing and twist silk require the greatest abundance of 
labour. The former (sewings) require three times, the latter, 
(twist,) six times as much doubling and twisting as the former. 
These are the perfection of thrown silk. 

Throwsting. — In a former part of this work, the history of the 
introduction of the throwsting mill into England has been detail- 
ed. Since then, vast improvements have been made in throwst- 
ing mills, under the skill of able engineers, by which much of the 
fabrics of the French, and all that of the English looms are now 
prepared. Amongst the Italians, the throwsting macninery in- 
vented w T hen the Messrs. Lombe first carried off their improve- 
ments, are unchanged. Even in France, up to a recent date, no 
improvements have been made in throwsting organzine, although 



334 



THROWSTING. 



the most extensive manufacturers in the world, and most of that 
material are derived from the Italians. 

Before raw silk can be used for manufactures it must take one 
of the three forms before described, namely, singles, organzine, 
or TRAM. 

Raw silk, in its progress towards organzine, passes through 
six processes. 

1. The winding it from skeins, upon what are called bobbins, 
in the winding machines. 

2. Sorting it, when so wound, into different qualities. 

3. Spinning or twisting each individual thread in the mill. 

4. Bringing together upon fresh bobbins, two or more threads 
already spun or twisted. 

5. Twisting these two or more threads together by means of 
the mill. 

6. Sorting the skeins of twist or organzine, according to their 
different degrees of finenessi 

The machine for winding the raw silk is called a winding ma- 
chine, one segment of which is here given, the other parts being 
only reduplicates of the same, extended by the usual connections, 
to any indefinite length. 

Fig. 16. 




THROWSTING. 335 

The skeins being opened they are extended upon one of the 
reels represented by A A, which is called a swift : this is formed of 
4 rods passing through or fixed in the axis, so as to form a double 
reel of 8 spokes, 4 of them making right angles with each other, 
and standing opposite and parallel to 4 spokes on the other side. 
These parallel spokes are connected together by bands of strings, 
thus forming a kind of lantern wheel, and the bands can be fixed 
so as to vary the diameter of the wheel, in order to suit any kind or 
size of skein to be placed upon it. This provision is rendered 
necessary by the circumstance, that the raw silk of most coun- 
tries is so wound as to be equal in circumference to a yard, ac- 
cording to the standard measure of the country, and as some 
difference exists in these standards, the reel which would suit the 
silk imported from one quarter, would, without some such provi- 
sion, be unsuited to that of any other country. 

The swifts may be made to revolve freely upon wire pivots ; 
but as it is needful to wind the silk from them, and to deliver it 
upon the bobbins, with a uniform degree of tension, simple 
means are employed for creating the necessary amount of friction, 
either by means of a spring, or by hanging a looped wire upon 
the axis withinside the reel. To this loop a small leaden weight is 
attached. B B are what are called the bobbins ; these are made 
of wood, and consist of a hollow axis, on each extremity of which 
is fixed a circular disc, the uses of which discs are to cause the 
revolution of the bobbins, in a manner which will be described, 
and to confine the silk upon the hollow axis. These bobbins can 
be easily placed in or withdrawn from the frame. D is called 
the layer. This is a light wooden rod having wire eyes fixed in 
it, one opposite to each bobbin, through which eye the end of the 
thread upon the reel is passed when it is attached to the bobbin. 
This layer has a lateral motion communicated to it, by means of a 
crank fixed upon the cross spindle E, which crank is turned by 
two bevelled wheels fixed at the end of the horizontal spindle G. 
The whole is put in motion by the bevelled wheel on the upright 
shaft F, which is connected with another bevelled wheel on the 
spindle G. This, revolving, carries with it the wheels or discs 
H H, and the discs of the bobbins resting upon these are carried 
round by the friction caused by their own weight, and occasion, 
consequently, the delivery of the silk from the reels upon the 
bobbins. The motion of the layers causes this delivery to be 
uniform over the axis of the bobbins. The constant attendance 
of our children upon this winding machine is requisite, in order 
to join the ends of any threads which may be broken in winding, 
and when the skeins are exhausted, to place new ones upon the 
swifts. When the bobbins are filled they are lifted out of the 
frame, and empty ones are placed in their stead, to which the 
skein being attached, the operation is continued. During the 
time occupied in removing the skeins upon the swifts, or of re- 
moving and replacing the bobbins, the process is still continued 



336 



THROWSTING. 



with the unexhausted swifts and unfilled bobbins, each being in 
that respect independent of the other. 

The third operation, that of spinning or twisting the thread 
thus wound upon the bobbins, is performed with the throwsting 
mill. The particular construction of this mill is frequently varied, 
but the principle of its action being always the same, it would be 
useless to describe more than one of its modifications. Mills of 
great power and considerable extent are generally used for this 
purpose in England, but on the continent it is by no means un- 
usual for artisans to purchase raw silk and to employ their wives 
and children in preparing it for weaving. The machines which 
are then used are necessarily small, and are turned by hand ; from 
the form in which it is usual for them to arrange the spindles, 
the apparatus is called by them the oval. This throwsting mill 
is now chosen for description in consequence of its simplicity. 

Fig. 17. 




The number of spindles which it contains is thirteen, and of 
these, to avoid confusion, only six are shown in the diagram, or 
cut, the remainder would be arranged behind those which are 
seen. Upon each of the spindles the hollow axis of a bobbin, 
before described, is placed, so that the bobbin has liberty to turn 
freely upon the spindle. Upon each spindle, just above the bob- 
bin, a piece of hard wood is so fixed by a pin as to cause the 
wood to revolve with the spindle. To this wood is fixed a piece 
of wire called a flyer, &, bent in the form here given. At each 
extremity of the flyer an eye is formed ; of these the lower eye 
stands opposite the middle of the bobbin, and the upper eye is 



THROWSTING. 337 

exactly over the centre, and a few inches above the top of the 
spindle. The thread from the bobbin is passed through both 
these eyes, and also through another wire eye, fixed in an oval 
frame L, which has a traversing motion to and fro, communicated 
to it by means of a crank, or an eccentric pin, K. This is fixed 
in a cog wheel, turned by a pinion upon the perpendicular axis 
E, the end of the rail /, being supported upon a roller, to cause 
its more easy and regular motion, so that the threads are guided 
with regularity to the reel K, in the same manner as by the layer 
to the bobbins in the winding machine before described. Motion 
is communicated from the crank B to the spindles, by means of a 
wheel D, connected with a pinion on the upper end of the vertical 
axle E, which also, at its lower end, has a drum F to receive the 
endless strap or band a a. This encompasses the oval frame G, 
and gives motion to all the spindles, being so confined by the 
Tollers d and a as to press with the requisite degree of force upon 
the spindles, and to give all of them an uniform celerity,, 

It is now evident, that every revolution of the spindle and flyer 
must give a twist to the thread drawn from the bobbin. Whe- 
ther the twist shall be hard or slack, depends upon the compara- 
tive celerity of the spindles and bobbins, and this proportion is 
regulated by the relative sizes of the wheel k, and the pinion i, 
whence the reel and bobbin receive their motion. For different 
manufacturing purposes, silk must be thrown or twisted with 
different degrees of hardness; this is provided for by the power 
of changing the wheel and pinion h and i, for others of different 
proportional diameters. 

For the purpose of clearer elucidation, one of the spindles is 
shown without a bobbin, while the rest are all mounted, and 
supposed to be in action. The skeins upon the reel should be 
made of a uniform length, and this is attained by a train of 
wheels consisting of a pinion n, fixed on the principal spindle R, 
turning a wheel o, which has a pinion fixed to and turning with 
it, giving motion to a larger wheel p. This, again, has another 
smaller wheel upon its spindle, with a pin fixed in it, so that at 
every revolution, it raises a hammer and strikes upon a bell s, 
whereby the attendant has notice of the quantity wound on the 
skeins. 

When the machine is employed for the first operation of twist- 
ing raw silk for organzine, which requires a strong and close 
twist, the wheel h must be of greater and the pinion i of less 
diameter than are here represented, in order that the reel K, and 
the bobbins, may receive a slower motion, in proportion to the 
speed of the spindles. 

The silk is now in the form of singles, the only difference be- 
tween which and the single twist in course of preparation for 
organzine, besides the degree of hardness noticed above, is, that 
in the latter process the crank must be turned in an opposite di- 
rection, so as to give a reverse motion to the machinery. Organ- 
29 



338 THROWSTING. 

zine silk is of the nature of rope, where the combined strands 
are twisted in an opposite direction to that given to the separate 
threads, whereas, singles and tram are twisted only in one direc- 
tion, similarly to twine, or to the individual strands of which 
the larger rope is made. 

When silk is intended to be dyed in the skein, the twisting in 
this machine is but slight, and its direction must of course depend 
upon its ulterior destination, whether for tram or for organzine. 
Silk thread, intended for organzine, is, in this first operation, 
twisted in a left-hand direction. 

The next operation is to bring two, three, or more of these 
twisted threads together upon one bobbin. The number of the 
threads depends, of course, upon the substance which it is intended 
to give to the organzine, and a careful sorting of the threads must 
be made, so as to bring together such only as are of an uniform 
texture. To effect this, a machine is used very similar to the 
winding machine already described. Instead of gathering the 
silk from the bobbins on a reel, in its first twisting in the throw- 
ing machine, when the object is to prepare organzine, it is usual 
to transfer it to other bobbins. In the operation of doubling, 
these bobbins are placed in front of the winding machine, where, 
of course, they take the place of the swifts, and stand two, three, 
or more in a row, according to the number of strands to be subse- 
quently brought together in the organzine, in the manner shown 
by the following figure. 

Fig. 18. Doubling Machine. 




The threads in the bobbins are passed over one and beneath 
another wooden rail m and n, with both of which they are brought 
in close contact. These rails, being covered with cloth, serve to 
cleanse the silk in its passage, equally well with the less artifi- 
cial means offered by the fingers of the person employed in 
winding. 

In their passage or transference from one set of bobbins to the 
other, each thread passes through a small piece of wood e, which 
slides freely up and down in a mortised hole through the fixed 
board /. The use of these slides, which are equal in number 
with the threads to be brought together, will soon be seen. All 
the threads are then passed through the wire eye d, of the layer 
D, which it is more convenient to place behind the bobbin, caus- 
ing the wire to be bent over it, as shown in the figure. The 



THROWSTING. 339 

bobbins to be filled, rest upon and take their revolving motion 
from the wheels F, as in the winding- machine. The degree of 
tension given to the silk threads in winding- causes them to raise 
the sliders e, Should any one of the threads break, the slider 
through which it passed, no longer supported by it, strikes upon 
the bent lever t v, which moving upon its centre w, causes the 
hook v to catch into the notches made for that purpose in the disc 
of the bobbin B, and this immediately stops its motion. The 
winding of the required number of threads thus proceeds with 
as much certainty as the winding of one would do. It is the 
business of the attendant to repair the broken thread, when the 
slide e being again raised, the weight x, attached to the bent 
lever tv, raises the end £, frees the notched bobbin from the hook 
v, and the machine is once again in motion, 

The bobbins, thus filled with double or triple threads, are once 
more carried to the throwsting machine, and are there spun or 
twisted together by an operation similar to that already described, 
with the sole difference before mentioned, of giving a reversed 
direction to the spindles and flyers. In this operation, the silk, 
now converted to organzine, is transferred to reels instead of bob- 
bins, and then, being made up into skeins, is sorted for sale or 
use. Previously to this, however, and in order to prevent its 
crinkling when removed, a tendency to which it has acquired in 
twisting, the reels are subjected for two or three minutes to the 
action of steam, which is found effectually and permanently to set 
the twist. This is a modern improvement, it having formerly 
been the practice to steep the reels in boiling water, a more 
tedious and less effectual operation. The degree of hardness 
given to the twist is varied according to the purpose for which it 
is intended ; and depends, as already described, upon the relative 
diameters of the wheel and pinion h and i, of the throwsting ma- 
chine. 

The silk thus thrown is called hard silk, and must be boiled, 
in order to discharge the gum, which otherwise renders it harsh to 
the touch, and unfit to receive the dye. The silk is for about 
four hours in a plentiful proportion of water, into which a quan- 
tity of soap, equal to about one-third of the weight of the silk, 
has been placed; this assists in dissolving the gum, and in ren- 
dering the silk soft and glossy. 

By this boiling, the silk, which has already in the previous 
operations of organzining, lost in the proportion of from five to 
seven and a half out of each one hundred pounds of its weight, 
is further diminished to twelve, and sometimes even to eleven 
and a half ounces, for every pound. Considerate carefulness is 
called for in this operation, to prevent injury to the threads from 
burning, which sometimes will occur, and occasion material loss 
to the manufacturer, or to the dyer, to whom the process is in- 
trusted. If by reason of the viscid gum contained in the silk, 
the skeins adhere to the bottom of the copper in which they are 



340 THROWSTING. 

boiled, the heat is, by that means, necessarily intercepted in its 
passage to the water, and accumulated in the silk, which is, in 
consequence, partially carbonized and spoiled. Even when the 
injury thus occurring to the staple of the thread is less apparent, 
it frequently discovers itself when put into the loom, causing 
infinite trouble and delay to the weaver, who often, in such a case, 
cannot weave, in a working of twelve hours, more than, in the 
absence of injury to the silk, he would have woven in half that 
time ; and the injury to him is therefore one of very serious con- 
sequence. 

After this boiling, the silk is well washed in a current of clear 
water to discharge the soap ; and when subsequently dried, al- 
though its weight is so sensibly diminished, its bulk is, on the 
contrary, visibly increased, and it is seen to have acquired that 
peculiar glossiness and softness of texture which form its princi- 
pal and characteristic beauty. 

The gum which has been now discharged served the useful 
purpose of causing the adhesion of the fibres, as originally wound 
from the cocoons. This end is now more effectually attained by 
the twist the thread has received in the throwing mill ; and the 
gum would henceforth be considered as a foreign matter, impair- 
ing the beauty and destroying the flexibility of its texture. 
Were the boiling performed before the twisting, this operation 
would scarcely be at all completed, and at best only an entangled 
wooly or downy substance would be obtained, wholly unfit for 
manufacturing purposes. Before a thread of useful texture could 
be then got, the silk would require to be spun by some process 
similar to that followed with cotton or wool, or such indeed as is 
necessary with the waste silk, drawn from the cocoons in the 
first operation of reeling, and with those cocoons which are in- 
jured or reserved for breeding, and which it is found difficult or 
impossible to wind in the filature. 

It has always been asserted, and, if the assertion be correct, it 
is a curious fact, that, notwithstanding the great advantage of su- 
perior machinery, the English throwster is unable to produce 
organzine silk equal in quality, and at as small an expense, or 
with as little waste, as that prepared in Italy. It was long held, 
and is still believed by many, that the Italian throwster, who is 
also most usually a dealer in silk, reserves the finest qualities for 
his own operations ; and exports only that which is inferior. 
Supposing, however, that the difference in the value of the thrown 
silk is such as is stated, it is perhaps nearer to the truth to be- 
lieve that the climate may influence the quality of a substance so 
delicate, since it is well known that, during certain states of the 
atmosphere, the throwing of silk is performed in England at a 
comparative disadvantage. Or, it may be, that the fibre of the 
silk is injuriously affected by its being packed before twisting, or 
by the lengthened voyage to which it is subjected in its transit to 
that country; and the higher estimation uniformly evinced by 



THROWSTING. 341 

throwsters for silk of the new crop, over that which has lain 
sometime in the warehouse, would seem to indicate another cause 
for the alleged superiority of Italian organzine. It is owing to 
this preference of foreign thrown silk, that, in the face of a high 
protecting duty, it has always met with a certain, though limited 
demand from the English weaver. 

We find in the Congressional reports (Doc. No. 158) a notice 
of Messrs. Terhoven, brothers, of Philadelphia County, who have 
recently invented a simple and ingenious machine for winding 
silk from cocoons, and for doubling and twisting the thread at the 
same time. These operations, it is believed, have never before 
been united in the same machine. It answers the object intended 
perfectly. A fringe weaver, who has seen the silk thread finished 
on this machine, pronounced it equal to any imported. The in- 
ventors have received a medal worth twenty dollars from Scot- 
land for this invention. 

An improved engine for tramming silk, by U. V. Spenton of 
Winchester, (Eng.,) as taken from the London transactions of 
the Society of Arts, vol. 41, page 169, 1823 ; for which a silver 
medal was granted, and one of which machines is now in the 
office of the Secretary of the Treasury at Washington, is thus 
described. 

The delivering bobbins (varying from two to four, according 
to the thickness of the component thread) are placed upon as 
many vertical spindles, the vertical position allowing the threads 
to quit the bobbins without any motion or revolution of the 
bobbins themselves. Some way above the bobbins, the 
threads pass singly between two horizontal slips of cloth or 
felt, which by their friction, give, at the same time, a certain 
degree of tension to the threads, and clear them from any dust or 
other light matter. Each thread then passes through the eye of 
its own drop-wire, whence they all converge and unite in the eye 
of the guidcr, from which the compound thread is distributed on 
the surface of the receiving-bobbin as it revolves. Each drop- 
wire consists of a piece of wire turned up, so as to form a right 
angle, of which the vertical leg is about two inches long, and is 
terminated by an eye through which the thread passes; and the 
horizontal leg is about four inches long, terminating likewise in 
an eye, through which passes a pin, connecting all the four drop- 
wires, and forming a pivot, on which each is capable of moving 
freely. Each thread, in passing through the eye of its drop-wire, 
slips down a little, and, being in a state of moderate tension, sup- 
ports it at the elevation of half an inch or more above the position 
to which it would otherwise descend. When, therefore, a thread 
breaks, its drop-wire immediately falls and strikes on the edge 
of a wire frame, moving on a horizontal pivot, and so adjusted 
that the weight of the drop-wire immediately inclines downwards 
that side which it touches, and consequently raises the opposite 
side. To this opposite side a tail of wire is attached, which, 
29* 



342 DYEING. 

when raised, catches on a kind of racket- wheel, fixed on the same 
spindle as the receiving bobbin, and consequently stops it. The 
broken thread being- repaired, is again passed through the eye of 
the drop-wire, and supports it above the frame ; the opposite ends 
of the frame then become preponderant; the tail, or stop, 
descends out of the way of the racket-wheel, and the revolution 
of the receiving bobbin immediately recommences. 

This apparatus is very simple and efficacious, but is liable to 
two inconveniences : first, that the thread usually breaks close to 
the pieces of cloth by which it is compressed, and some trouble 
and loss of time are occasioned in drawing the threads out pre- 
vious to tying it: secondly, that, when a smaller number of 
threads than four are trammed, the vacant drop-wires must be re- 
moved, otherwise their unsupported weight would, as above 
described, throw up the stop, and prevent the revolution of the 
receiving bobbins. 

The specimen of this loom, as above mentioned, being deposited, 
we presume, for public inspection, and to afford drawings and 
models, renders it unnecessary to give here any illustration by 
cuts or diagrams, none such being sufficient to fully meet the 
practical operator, and to such only could it be useful. 



CHAPTER II. 

DYEING. 

[In the following pages upon dyeing, &c, every wohd is left out 
whose omission would not render the sense obscure.] 

To cleanse and ungum silk. — This operation consists in 
depriving silk of the principles which affect its whiteness. When 
the silk is made up into hanks, as is elsewhere described, dis- 
solve 15lbs. soap for 100 lbs. silk. Cut the soap in small pieces 
to promote its solution. Fill a kettle with pure fresh water, free 
from calcareous impregnation, and in proper quantities. The pro- 
portions are, 7 or 8 lbs. water to 1 lb. silk ; -\ : or —g- is sufficient 
for most colours. For yellow unbleached silks add 50 or 60 per 
cent., for unbleached white silks 25 per cent., of soap. Close 
the furnace door, with a few live coals in it, to keep the bath hot, 
but not boiling in no case, as it would injure the lustre of its tex- 
ture. Put the hanks of silk into this bath, hanging on sticks or 
pegs, and changing them till they are ungummed,as may be seen 
by the flexibility of the silk when deprived of its gum. This 
silk is to be wrung upon pins, to remove the soap, dressed and 
shaken upon pins and the hands, run a cord through the hanks, 



DYEING. 343 

8 or 10 on a line. Place these hanks in a bag closed at both ends 
and open in side. When in, sew up the side, each bag with about 
30 lbs. silk. These bags must now be boiled £ of an hour, in 
fresh soap and water, checking it when boiling over with cold 
water, and stirring the bags to keep them from burning. The silk 
thus operated upon is intended to remain white. 

White Silk, or boiling silk to be dyed white. — There are five 
parts or shades of white silk, called in China, Indian white, Paste 
white, Milky white, Silver white, and Blue Azure white. These 
are distinguishable by the eye, the three first are boiled and un- 
gummed, as above; to the two latter azure blue is added in the 
ungumming. This azure blue is thus made; wash 5 oz. indigo 
thrice in moderately hot water, pound it in a mortar, and pour boil- 
ing water over it. Leave it to settle; when it subsides decant 
the clear liquid carefully for use. This, by dyers, is termed azure. 

The silk is now prepared, as in the last instance, for white. 
When to be dyed : — 

In a large kettle filled with clear water, of 30 buckets, put 1£ 
lbs. of soap ; boil when the soap is dissolved, put the silk in the 
kettle over rods, passing through it and resting on its brim. For 
China white add a little annotto to the baths for a reddish tint. 
The silk should be turned on the rods, the end being in the liquor, 
and every part an equal time in the watery solution. For Indian 
white add a little azure; also for the other whites add azure, in 
proportion as the shades require. Four or five dippings will 
complete the work. The silk is to be wrung upon pegs, suspend- 
ed to dry, and fumigated if required. 

Sulphuring. — The silk in this operation should be extended 
on poles 7 or 8 feet from the floor, in a high apartment. For 
every 100 lbs. of silk 1^ or 2 lbs. of roll brimstone is used. It is 
put into an earthen pan, covered at bottom with a layer of ashes. 
The rolls, coarsely pounded, are to be placed on the ashes and 
lighted. The apartment is then well closed, the chimney, if there 
be one, well stopped, and the brimstone left burning during the 
night. The next day ventilate the room, and with the doors and 
windows open dry the silk. In winter a dish of charcoal to dry 
the silk should be used, the room being closed. 

To boil silks which are to be dyed. — For common colours 
put 20 lbs. of soap to 100 lbs. silk, and proceed as before, except 
that as the silk is not to be ungummed the boiling may continue 
3^ hours, filling up from time to time with water. When the 
dye is to be blue, or green, yellow, or other colours, 30 lbs. of soap 
per 100 lbs. of silk are necessary, and the boiling, as before, to be 
in 4 hours, and then taken out. The bag, being taken out, is laid 
on a frame, and ripped, the silk taken therefrom ; if the liquid has 
not sufficiently penetrated, known by slimy appearances, it should 
be again put in, and boiled some hours. The silk loses £ in boiling. 

Aluming. — After washing and beetling the silk, to divest it of 
the soap, a line is put through them as when put to boil. They 



344 DYEING. 

are then put into the alum, taking care that each hank is properly 
exposed to the alum water, and kept well under. They must re- 
main there 8 or 9 hours, from night till morning, then washed and 
wrung with the hand over the vessel, and washed in a river or 
other bath of clear water, and beetled when necessary. A cask of 
40 or 50 bucketsful should have 40 lbs. of alum, first dissolved 
in hot water, and poured in and well stirred to mix it. Put into 
this 150 lbs. silk. If it be too weak add 25 lbs. more alum dis- 
solved with the same precautions. The alum is increased, and 
more silk is added until the bath begins to smell bad. Steep the 
silks intended for dark colours and draw off; then clean the bath 
for a new operation. This aluming is the " soul of dyeing." If 
the alum contains iron, which may be known by dissolving a few 
drops of the solution of the prussiate of potash, when a blue pre- 
cipitate will take place, then dissolve the alum for 10 or 15 days, 
in shallow vessels in the air, when the iron becoming oxidated, it 
will separate in the form of rust. Filter the solution, evaporate 
the water and recrystallize it. 

The indigo blue tub. — For 8 lbs. of indigo take 6 lbs. of the 
best potash, and for each pound of potash 3 to 4 ounces of mad- 
der and 8 lbs. of bran, watered several times to take off its flour, 
and when washed well pressed to take off the water. Set it by 
itself on the tub bottom ; boil the potash a quarter of an hour, in 
a kettle two-thirds full. Then leave it to settle and put out the 
fire. Two or three days previously to this 8 lbs. of indigo should 
have been steeped in a bucket of hot water ; in this it should be 
carefully washed, changing the water, which assumes a reddish 
colour. This is the bath usually made by silk dyers. Put into 
this dye the silk or stuff, the shades of which are to be deepest. 
The colour will be deeper the longer it remains, until the liquor 
becomes weak. The tub for the above quantity of indigo must be 
5 feet deep and 2^ in diameter at the mouth, and 1^ foot at the 
base. 

Crimson. — Silks to be dyed in crimson with cochineal, should 
be boiled in 20 lbs. soap to 100 lbs. of silk. Wash and beetle 
the silk at a stream, to take out the soap ; put it in an alum so- 
lution in its full strength, from night till morning, (7 or 8 hours.) 
Wash the silks and twice beetle them at a stream. A previously 
prepared bath or trough filled with river water, about ^ or f , and 
when boiling add some powdered nut galls ; boil on for a little 
while; then add 4 drachms to 2 ounces of the nut galls to every 
pound of silk. If the galls are finely powdered and sifted they 
may be put in with the cochineal. The silk is then washed, 
beetled, and spread upon sticks by hanks, thick, because crimson 
colour is not subject to be unequally set. The cochineal, pound- 
ed and sifted, is now thrown into the bath, and well stirred, and 
must have 5 or 6 boils. From 2 to 3 ounces to each pound of 
silk is put in according to the shade. The proportion of cochi- 
neal is 2£ ounces, never more than 3 ounces. These ingredients 



DYEING. 345 

are put into a pure tin vessel, (not into copper or brass tinned.) 
The cochineal and galls are boiled, put into a bath, and for every 

1 lb. cochineal, 1 oz. of a solution of tin in aqua regia, called com- 
position, is used. This composition is made with 1 lb. sp. nitre, 

2 oz. sal ammoniac, and 6 oz. of grain tin. The two latter are 
placed in a sand stone pot, upon which pour 12 oz. water, and 
then add the sp. nitre. One ounce of this composition to 1 lb. of 
silk is used. The galls and cochineal being boiled, the kettle is 
left to cool. The silk is put into the tub to be steeped from 5 to 7 
times. After this the bath must boil 2 hours, steeping the silks 
towards the end of this time. Now withdraw- the fire, and wholly 
immerse the silks, leaving them to remain from 6 to 8 hours. The 
silk is now to be washed and to get two beetlings, and be wrung 
and dried. Chaptal says, by giving silk a ground of yellow, be- 
fore dyeing as above, a poppy or flame colour may be obtained 
as handsome and more economical than that produced from the 
carthamus or bastard saffron. 

Green. This colour, composed of yellow and blue, is diffi- 
cult to give to silk, because, in place of applying the yellow upon 
the blue, we give the blue upon the yellow. 

The silk, which is boiled as for common colours, must be well 
alumed; then cooled in a stream ; the silk is then distributed in 
little hanks of 4 or 5 ounces, to make the dye uniform. Weld,* 
the Reseda Luteola, is to be boiled as for the yellow, and a bath 
of it. prepared with clear water, so strong as to give a good 
ground of yellow colour. Dip the silk in this bath with great 
care, so that the colour shall be equal, and a perceptible .green. 
When the ground (colour) is nearly at its height, some shreds 
of silks should be dipped, in order to see whether the colours 
have a fulness of ground. If enough, and the decoction of weld, 
and make a new trial. W T hen the colour takes, wring the silk, 
cool in a stream, and beetle. The silk is then to be dressed, 
reformed into hanks for the tub, steeped, hank by hank, in a cold 
blue vat, and finally wrung and dried with care and speed. The 
15 or 16 clearest shades of this kind of green need only be 
steeped in the tub in order to be entirely completed. 

For deeper greens, or to vary the shades, add to the weld a 
decoction of logwood, or of old fustic, or of annotto. A little 
copperas is added to produce very deep greens. The apple and 
sea-green require a light yellow. 

Lilac, a very light and brilliant tint of the violet, or of the 
purple, should receive the blue with caution, and sparingly. If 
the baths are too strong, mix fresh water with some potash in 
clear, cold water, to prepare a bath for blueing and greening the 
lilacs at will. W~hen the bath is prepared, stir it up. Then it 



* The weld plant should be cultivated by our farmers : no crop will 
pay better. 



346 DYEING. 

assumes a green colour, which imperceptibly diminishes. When 
the bath begins to lose its first green colour, and appear like in- 
digo, put in the silk. The potash gives the red more of a violet 
tint. 

Violet with Logwood. Take dyed silks, alumed and washed 
in the usual way ; boil logwood chips in water. It will give 
blue, if made cold. When the logwood is warm, the colour is 
spotted, unequal, and less beautiful. This decoction will not 
last more than three weeks or a month. 

If the alumed silk be steeped in a bath of Brazil wood, it may 
be dyed with the usual heat : after this, a decoction of logwood 
may be added, and the silk immersed ; in this case, the bath 
may be warm, which it must not be if the silk had not first been 
steeped in the first decoction. The potash is sometimes substi- 
tuted with a bath of alum in clear water, for the alteration of the 
tint — always when the silks are too much charged with the dye, 
by being too long in the bath. 

Violet with Brazil wood and Archil. After boiling and 
impregnating the silk with the alum water, put it into a vat, more or 
less clear, of Brazil wood, according to the shade intended to be 
given. When taken out, the silk is beetled in a stream of clear 
water, then put into the bath of archil to complete the colour; is 
washed a. second time, and beetled. It is then put into the tub, 
wrung, dried quickly, as in the case of greens and blues. 

Yellow. Alum, 3 oz. to 1 lb. of silk ; sugar of lead, 1 oz. 
to 1 lb. of alum ; fustic, 1 lb. to 1 of silk ; water, 2 gallons, as 
the shade may require. Immerse the silk over night in a solution 
of alum and sugar of lead ; wring and dye it in the fustic. 
Chaptal says, that silk intended for yellow colour is boiled with 
22 lbs. L oz. 1 dr. of soap to 110 lbs. 5 oz. 10 drs. of silk; it is 
afterwards washed, alumed, and put on the rods. 

The yellow bath is prepared by boiling 2 lbs. 3 oz. 5 drs. of 
weld to the pound of silk, £ of an hour. Strain this decoction 
through a sieve ; cool till the hand can be kept in it, then im- 
merse the silk. This process is repeated, and more silk immersed, 
till the strength of the dye is exhausted. 

To extract all the virtues of the weld, and impart a golden hue 
to the yellow produced by it, 1 lb. 4 oz. 4 drs. potash to 22 lbs. 
1 oz. 2 drs. silk are put in the vat. The second bath of weld is 
poured boiling hot on these, and well stirred to hasten the solu- 
tion. When the bath becomes clear, decant a part of it to the 
first bath, and again immerse the silk. A golden hue may be 
imparted to the yellow by means of annotto. 

Yellow on silk in hanks. Silk to be dyed, is boiled in the 
proportion of 20 lbs. soap to 100 lbs. silk. When boiled, it is 
put into the alum water and again washed, (called refreshed,) 
and dressed, then placed upon rods, in hanks of 7 or 8 ounces 
each, and steeped in the yellow bath. 



DYEING. 347 

For dyeing clear yellow, (jaune franc,) or yellow in grain, 
weld only is commonly used. 

Put into a kettle 2 lbs. weld to 1 lb. of silk. Boil £ hour, the 
weld on blocks of wood, to mix well with the water; strain; 
cool till the hand can bear it ; put in the silk ; work it well till 
the colour is uniform. Keep the barque full, and the added water 
of a proper temperature ; (all long troughs should be kept full ;) 
the silk is now immersed : while this goes on, weld is boiled 
a second time in new water. Take out the silk ; empty the 
trough one-half; fill it up again with the new decoction, in 
quantity equal to what was abstracted ; stir up the bath, to mix 
the liquid ; this is kept hotter than the first, but moderate, lest 
part of the colour taken by the silk should be destroyed. Steep 
in this new bath the silk : during which, dissolve potash in pro- 
portion of 1 lb. to 20 of silk. Put the potash into a small kettle, 
pour into it some of the 2d weld liquor, boiling hot, stirring up 
the potash. When this has settled, and is clear, lift out, a 2d time, 
the silks ; put them on the frames; throw into the bath two or 
three ladlesful of the clear potash water. Stir well, dip the 
silks again, and wash anew. After seven or eight washes, ex- 
amine to see if the colour be a proper one. If not, add to the 
bath a little potash ; and proceed as before, till the colour is of 
the desired shade. 

To make a yellow, approaching to that of a jonquille, with 
the potash, put into the bath a little annotto. 

Poppy. The poppy colour is procured by precipitating the red 
of bastard saffron held in solution by potash. With this view, 
when silks are washed, drained, and put on the rods, lime juice 
is poured into the bath till it acquire a cherry colour. It is then 
stirred, and well worked, until it has acquired a sufficient colour. 

To produce a lively, full poppy, the silk is wrung on coming 
out of the first bath, which it exhausts, and is then put into the 
second. Five or six baths are requisite to impart to it a flame 
colour. The poppy colour is heightened by putting the silk 
through tepid water, acidulated with lime juice. A ground of 
annotto, 3 or 4 shades paler than aurora, is requisite for silks, be- 
fore exposing them to the colouring principle of the earthamus 
plant. 

Black. Chaptal's directions to dye raw silk {soie crue) which 
has been reeled off dry. 

The silk being cleansed, is to be bleached, by being sulphured 
or charged with sulphureous acid; then washed and passed 
water saturated with a little soap ; then take £ the weight of 
silk of gall nuts ; make a strong decoction of them ; boil the silk 
therein for a short time ; let it remain in the vat 36 hours ; wash 
and wring it. The silk is so saturated with tannin, that 100 lbs. 
of silk thus galled will weigh 135 lbs. Put in this bath, sul- 
phate of iron and gum, according to the quantity to be dyed ; 
heat it ; dip the silk therein, and when deeply black, put it in a 



348 DYEING. 

trough of cold water ; turn it on a roller, that all parts may be 
equally exposed ; then pass it through cold soap suds. Dyers 
have a tub on purpose for black, and when the dyeing composition 
is exhausted, they renew by a refresher, (brevet.) When the 
deposit is considerable, it is taken out, and iron filings added to 
the liquid. The dyeing of the silk is finished by heating the 
cauldron containing the dye, occasionally stirring it, to prevent 
the sediment from heating too much. 

The liquor must not boil : add more or less gum and iron solu- 
tion. When the gum is dissolved, and the liquid nearly boils, 
it is left for one hour, the silk, divided into three portions, is then 
immersed successively. The silk is slightly wrung, and aired 
three times. The great point is, to press out the liquor with 
which the silk is impregnated, and when to fill it again there- 
with ; but above all, to air it well, as that deepens the colour. 
After the three wringings, the vat is to be heated, and more gum 
and copperas added. The reheating the vat is called giving afire. 
Two fires are commonly given for a light black, and three for a 
deep dye. Sometimes the silk is left in the vat, after the last fire, 
for 12 hours. Commonly 30 kilogrammes (66 lbs. 3 oz. 6 drs.) of 
silk are dyed in one operation. This is technically called a heat. 
One fire only is required for half the quantity. When the dyeing 
is finished, the silk is rinsed on the rods sec. art. 

When the silk is dyed, it must be softened, by immersing it 
for a quarter of an hour in soap and water, in the proportion of 
from 2 to 3 lbs. of soap to 100 lbs. of silk, and then dried. 

Chaptal says, a full, clear, permanent black may be obtained 
by using a solution of iron immediately after a strong galling. 
The stuff is immersed in a decoction of logwood, and next into 
this decoction, conjoined with a solution of iron and verdigris, 
and this to be repeated till the colour is very beautiful. With 
this view, 110 lbs. 5 oz. 10 drs. of silk, 44 lbs. 2 oz. 4 drs. of 
nutgalls, 66 lbs. 3 oz. 6 drs. of sulphate of iron, calcined to red- 
ness, the same quantity of logwood, and 1 1 lbs. 9 drs. of verdi- 
gris, were employed. 

The silk is to be first wrung out of the galls ; allowed to dry, 
and then strongly shaken by the hands, in order to ventilate and 
detach it from the galls. 

The same process of rubbing, shaking, &c, is to be employed 
in respect to the logwood bath ; and the silk is to be carefully 
washed after each immersion in the solution of sulphate of iron. 
In the last logwood bath, is to be dissolved 2 oz. 15 drs. of gum 
arabic, to 1 lb. 4 oz. 4 drs. of silk. The black is softened by 
passing the dyed silk through soap and water. By combining 
vegetable astringents with the nutgalls, a softer and more agree- 
able colour was produced. Oak bark, a species of agaric, pome- 
grate bark, &c, may be employed for this purpose. 

Blue. By Mons. Raymond. 

When the silk has been cleansed, immerse it £ of an hour at 



DYEING. 349 

the ordinary temperature in water containing -^ of its weight 
of the sulphate of the peroxide of iron. Wash ; hold it for \ an 
hour in a bath, nearly boiling, of soap and water. Wash again ; 
put in a cold weak solution of prussiate of potash, soured by sul- 
phuric, or muriatic acid. As soon as it is immersed it becomes 
blue. In \ of an hour wash and dye it. This dye becomes dull 
in the sun, but will regain its brilliancy by being kept in the 
dark. 

Chaptal says, to obtain Turkish blue, the deepest of all, the 
silk should be immersed in a strong, warm bath of savary, before 
putting it into the vat. 

To obtain the Royal Hue, also a deep colour, and permanent, 
cochineal is employed in place of savary. 

This last blue may be successfully imitated, by first immersing 
the silk in a solution of loz. 7| drs. verdigris, to 1 lb. 4 oz. 4 
drs. of silk. The silk is afterwards disposed in a bath of log- 
wood, in which it assumes a blue colour, which is fixed by pass- 
ing it through the vat. 

Silk to be dyed blue, is usually boiled in a bath of 44 lbs. 2 oz. 
4 drs. soap, to 110 lbs. 5 oz. 10 drs. silk. It is carefully washed, 
and twice put through running water; afterwards made into 
skeins; plunged into the vat by means of the wooden roller until 
it has acquired the desired shade. It is then wrung, shaken in 
the air, washed, again wrung, and hung up to dry. 

When silk is to be dyed blue without boiling, the whitest 
kinds are chosen ; they are dipped in water that they more readily 
imbibe the dye. 

EXTRACTS FROM A GERMAN TREATISE ON DYEING SILK. 

\The following receipts are proportioned to 10 lbs. of silk boiled."] 
A handsome yellow. Take 1£ lbs. alum : 20 lbs. St. Mary's 
thistle [the carduus Marie] and ^ lb. woad ashes. Dissolve 
the alum in 10 buckets water; pour it into a vat; fix the silk 
upon rods, steep it; work it well an hour; wring it; lay it aside 
wet. Into 10 buckets water in a kettle add the carduus Marie, 
boil $ of an hour; strain; let it cool to suffer your hand in it; 
steep the silk in this ; work well half an hour; wring; and lay it 
by wet. The pails with the alum water, as well as those with 
the decoction, must be filled and kept full during the working 
process to near the top. In filling up, or supplying the evapora- 
tion, do not cool it below what your hand can bear. Put the 
carduus Marie the 2d time into the kettle, with fresh water; 
boil again ; take out the silk ; dip out some of the liquor in 
which you had previously worked the silk; add as much of the 
2d boiling to it; stir the liquor always before you steep the 
silk in it; steep the silk again, and work it well for half an hour; 
keeping up a higher temperature than at the first operation, but 
not too hot, or it will injure the silk. Now dissolve the woad 
ashes in a kettle, pour on it some of the 2d liquor, boiling hot ; 
30 



350 DYEING. 

stir well, and then let it settle ; next pour the clear part of this 
solution into the yellow liquor, first taking out the silk ; stir 
well; steep the silk again, and work it well 15 minutes. Then, 
or sooner, take out a small quantity of the silk ; wring it, examine 
its shade, if the colour is not good, add a small quantity of the 
solution of woad ashes to this liquor ; steep the silk again, and 
let it be well worked until the colour is obtained. To give the 
silk a deep golden tint, add to the solution of woad ashes some 
annotto. 

Citron yellow. Take 1£ lbs. alum, 8 lbs. safflower; £ lb. 
alum. 

Dissolve the alum in 10 buckets of water; pour the solution 
into a vat; steep the silk in it; work it well half an hour; wring, 
and lay it by wet. Throw away the alum solution as useless, 
and put 10 buckets of fresh water into a kettle; add 8 lbs. 
safflower and £ lb. alum; boil for half an hour, strain the decoc- 
tion into the vat; steep the silk in it; work it well £ f an hour; 
wring; dry, and beat it well. The left liquor will dye a pale 
yellow. 

Another citron yellow. Take 1£ lbs. alum; 14 lbs. saf- 
flower, and £ lb. alum. 

To 10 buckets water in a kettle, add 1£ lbs. alum; dissolve; 
pour into the vat; work the silk in the solution \ an hour; wring, 
and lay it by wet. Next pour 10 buckets fresh water into the 
kettle ; add 7 lbs. safflower ; boil \ an hour ; strain into the vat ; 
work it well for 15 min.; wring, and dry it. The yellow liquor 
now pour back into the kettle ; add 7 lbs. safflower, (remaining,) 
also \ lb. alum; boil the whole \ an hour ; strain into a pail; 
work the silk well in this \ hour; wring; dry and beat it well. 

Citron yellow in a different way. Take \\ lbs. alum ; 7 lbs. 
French berries. 

Dissolve the alum in 8 buckets water ; pour this into a vessel ; 
immerse the silk in it; work it well ^ an hour; lay it by wet; 
and throw away the solution. Then boil 10 buckets of water; 
put into it the French berries ; boil for £ of an hour; add a small 
quantity of alum to the berries ; strain into a bucket; immerse it 
in the liquor; work well | an hour; wring well. To make the 
colour deeper or lighter, add or diminish the Fr. berries. 

Citron yellow another way. Take 2 lbs. alum ; 6 lbs. 
quercitron bark, ground. 

Alum in 10 buckets dissolved; pour it into the vat; immerse 
the silk in it, work it well 2 hours; wring; lay it aside wet; 
throw away the alum water; put 10 buckets fresh water into a 
kettle ; the ground quercitron bark into it ; boil one hour ; strain 
into a pail ; immerse in this liquor ; work for an hour ; wring 
well ; dry. Preserve the yellow liquor. 

A pale yellow. Take 2 lbs. alum. 

Prepare as above. Then warm the liquor used in the forego- 
ing operation ; put it in a pail ; immerse ; work well half an hour ; 



DYEING. 351 

wring well ; wring on a post ; beat it well ; and it will be glossy. 
It need not be rinsed. 

Citron yellow. Take 3 lbs. alum, and 1 lb. 3 oz. quercitron 
bark. Put the alum in a kettle with 10 buckets of water; let it 
dissolve ; pour it into a pail ; immerse the silk ; work it well and 
longer than usual ; wring ; rinse, and lay it by wet. Now put 10 
buckets water in a kettle; warm it; put the quercitron in a 
bag ; boil until the strength is extracted ; immerse the silk in it; 
work it well £ of an hour, and it is a handsome lively citron. 

A high yellow colour. (10 lbs. silk.) Add to the above 
yellow liquor a few ounces soda, according to the deep or bright 
shades desired ; but not until the silk is completely saturated 
with the liquor of quercitron. 

Orange. (10 lbs. silk.) Add to the above liquor at the same 
time with the soda, a proportional quantity of annotto, and work 
it well in. 

A pale yellow, or straw colour. — Take less alum and quer- 
citron, and dispense altogether with the soda and annotto. 

Buff. — To produce the many different shades of this colour, 
proceed with the quercitron in the same manner as directed in the 
dyeing of the same colours with turmeric and weld, (dyer's weed.) 
But 1 lb. of quercitron will equal 10 lbs. of either the turmeric 
or weld. 

A very lively glossy yellow. — To increase the above to its 
most lively and glossy hue, take instead of the alum, a solution 
of tin dissolved in a mixture of 3 parts spirits of salts, and 1 of 
nitric acid. Mix this with 20 times its own volume of water, 
and immerse the silk, first well alumed. Do not rinse. It may 
be coloured immediately. The solution of tin may be preserved. 

A Turkish blue. — Take 2^ oz. cochineal ; 10 oz. aquafortis ; 
1^ oz. English tin, and £ lb. alum. The silk must first be 
coloured in a keep, to a medium blue. Then place in a kettle 10 
buckets of water, into which put 2| oz. cochineal, and boil it 
well for 10 minutes. During the above process, dissolve the tin 
in the aquafortis, sec. art. Next pour the solution with £ lb. of 
alum into the said kettle, stir well ; immerse the silk, work it 
well for £ of an hour, keeping up a steady, slow, continued boil. 
Then take it out, wring and beat it Well to restore it to its natural 
gloss. By doubling the alum and substituting £ lb. of cream of 
tartar, the aquafortis may be dispensed with. 

A real pink. Take 15 lbs. of safflower; 15 quarts strong 
vinegar ; § oz. oil vitriol ; 1 lb. 14 oz. potash, and 4 oz. cream 
tartar. 

Put the 15 lbs. of safflower in a bag, tie it tight, immerse it 48 
hours in running water, taking it out every 6 hours ; tread it well 
with your feet, and continue till the yellow matter is worked out 
of it, then take it out, put it in a pail, and pour on it six buckets 
of river water. Next put 1 lb. 14 oz. potash in a crock to dis- 
solve it in water, decant the clear liquor on the safflower in the 



352 DYEING. 

tub, mix well, set it in a cool place for 6 hours. After this take 
out the safflower with the liquor ; strain in a pail, put in this half 
a bucket of water ; press it out to extract the colouring matter; 
pour 15 quarts of vinegar and f of an ounce of oil vitriol into the 
liquor. Next take 10 lbs. of silk on rods; put it into this mix- 
ture, work it well for 4 hours. Rinse in a stream ; wring well, 
and lay it aside wet. Lastly, dissolve 4 oz. cream tartar in soft 
water; decant the clear part of this into a tub, with 8 buckets of 
river water. Immerse the silk, which was before a light reel, in 
this solution — work it well £ of an hour. Wring and dry it. For 
a pink of a higher colour, or for a lighter, take more or less saf- 
flower, and add a small quantity of vinegar. 

A high coloured crimson. Take 1} lbs. cochineal ; 1 lb. galls ; 
4 oz. cream of Tartar; and 2£ lbs. Roman alum. By reducing 
the quantity of cochineal to 10 oz. and substituting for the re- 
mainder 3 lbs. of persico, or cutbear, the colour will be nearly the 
same, but with a slight bluish cast. 

To use the receipt above, dissolve the alum in 10 buckets of 
water. Decant the clear liquor into the vat, and immerse the 
silk in it, working it well for 4 hours. Rinse in a stream ; wring, 
and lay it by wet. Then to 8 buckets of boiling water, add 1^ lbs. 
finely powdered cochineal, 1 lb. do. nutgalls, and 4 oz. cream of 
tartar. Boil these slowly for 15 minutes, cool with 2 buckets of 
water, work it well in the liquor, the boil being continued for 1£ 
hours. Rinse, wring, and dry it. 

A handsome crimson. — Take 3 lbs. of Roman alum ; \ oz. 
argol,* (cream tartar,) \ lb. East India galls well powdered ; 25 
oz. cochineal. 

Put 8 buckets rain water, lukewarm, in a kettle, into this 3 lbs. 
Roman alum ; dissolve; put the solution in a pail, immerse it; 
work well eight hours ; wring lightly, and lay it by wet ; heat 
8 buckets spring water ; just boil it ; put in \ oz. argol and \ lb. 
powdered galls; boil all well 10 minutes; strain in a pail ; pour 
the liq. back into the kettle ; put in 25 oz. cochineal pulverized ; 
boil 10 min.; cool with h. bucket water ; immerse the silk in it ; 
work well for 2 hours; keep boiling; rinse; wring strongly, 
and dry it. Take 10 buckets water in a kettle, heat it just to 
bear your hand ; work well for \ hour ; then wring it, dry it — 
done. An ounce argol may be used. 

A deep red. Take 1 lb. fine galls ; 2£ lbs. alum ; \ lb. com- 
position, and 5 lbs. madder. 

Put into 8 buckets of water 1 lb. fine galls ; boil 15 minutes ; 
take it out ; run it through a sieve into a vat : steep the silk in 
it ; work it well for 2 hours ; take it out, rinse, and dry it. 
Then put into a kettle 8 buckets water, 2^ lbs. of alum, and \ lb. 
of the composition ; unite them in the water. Pour the mixture 

* Red argol is the tartar from red wine; white argol is the impure de- 
posit from white wine. Cream of tartar is pure argol. 



DYEING. 353 

into a vat, steep the silk in it, work it well for 4 hours ; then 
take it out, rinse, and lay it by wet. Lastly, put in a kettle 10 
buckets water, and 5 lbs. madder. Work the silk well in this 
until it boils. Rinse and dry it. 

A real brown. Take 6 oz. annotto, 1 lb. potash, 3 lbs. alum ; 
5 oz. nutgalls fine; £ oz. cream tartar; 2 oz. turmeric, and 10 
oz. cochineal. 

Boil the annotto in 10 buckets water, and put it with 1 lb. of 
potash into a kettle. Boil £ of an hour ; strain the liquor into a 
tub, immerse the silk, work it well for 2 hours, rinse, wring and 
dry it. Next to 8 buckets water add 3 lbs. alum; dissolve it; 
put the solution in a vat. Steep the dried yellow silk, work it 
well for 3 hours, wring and lay it by wet. Now prepare a kettle 
with 8 buckets water. Bring it to boil. Put in it 10 oz. coch. ; 
boil for 10 minutes, cool it with a bucket water. Put into it £ 
lb. cream tartar, and 2 oz. turmeric. Stir well, steep the silk, 
previously alumed ; work it well for 2 hours. Rinse in running 
water, wring, and lay it by wet. Now immerse it in a keep 
(dye tub) light or dark to your taste. The liquor of logwood 
will make it equally handsome, but not of a colour so lasting. 

A real crimson, another way. Take %\ lbs. Roman alum ; 2 
lbs. fine pulv'd. galls ; 1 lb. 4 oz. cochineal ; £ lb. argol, and 
8 oz. spirits of ammonia. 

Put 8 buckets water in a kettle ; into that 2 lbs. pulv'd. galls ; 
boil \ of an hour; strain into a pail ; steep the silk in it; work it 
well 4 hours ; rinse, wring and dry it. Next take a kettle with 
8 buckets water, dissolve 2 lbs. Roman alum; pour it into the 
vat, steep the silk in it, work it 4 hours in same ; wrin<r it, and 
lay it by wet. Lastly, take six buckets water ; pour it into the 
kettle ; add the argol and the sp. ammonia ; boil all together 10 
min.; cool with 2 buckets water; work the silk well 2 hours, 
keeping it boiling: Then suspend it on rods over the vat; pour 
the liquor from the kettle into it; immerse the silk in this liquor 
until it is cool ; rinse, and dry it in the shade. 

To preserve the full benefit of the cochineal, pour the used 
alum liquor into it, and heat it again. This will give you many 
lighter shades, from the rich peach blossom, down to the lightest 
lilac colour. You may, lastly, take silk of a yellow ground and 
colour it in it, a reddish yellow. 

A handsome red. Take 8 oz. annotto ; 1 \ lbs. potash ; 2| lbs. 
alum ; 6 lbs. Brazil wood ; 5 buckets sharp vinegar ; and 6 oz. 
composition. [This composition is given on page 345.] 

Take 8 buckets water in a kettle ; let it boil : have ready pow- 
dered 8 oz. annotto ; put the annotto and the potash into the 
above water, heated ; boil for £ an hour; strain into a pail ; steep 
the silk in it; work it well 2 hours ; then rinse, wring, and dry it. 
Dissolve 1^ lbs. of alum in 8 buckets water; pour this into a 
pail ; fix your silk upon rods ; work it therein 2 hours ; wring, and 

30* 



354 DYEING. 

dry it. When dry, steep the silk in warm water ; soak it well ; 
wring 1 , and lay it by. Next pour the 5 buckets vinegar into a 
vat; also the 6 lbs. Brazil wood; let stand 48 hours; pour the 
liquor out of the vat into a kettle ; boil 10 min., then strain it 
into a vat; the parts remaining into the kettle again; pour 3 
buckets water upon it; boil for £ hour; and pour the liquor 
with the other Brazil wood into the vat. Again pour 6 oz. com- 
position into this Brazil wood liquor ; stir well ; steep the silk, 
first well soaked in water for 2 hours. If the liquor still con- 
tains any colouring matter, take it out, pour it into the kettle 
again; work the silk another time in it, keeping it moderately 
warm: rinse in running water; wring, and hang- it up to dry. 
Eight, instead of five buckets vinegar will greatly improve the 
colour. Omitting the composition altogether, the colour will be- 
come darker. If a darker and fiery hue is wanted, add 2 lbs. of 
Brazil wood, and 1 lb. of composition to the above. 

A citron yellow, with quercitron bark. Take 2£ lbs. alum ; 
£ lb. acetate of lead, 2 oz. chalk, and 3 lbs. quercitron bark. 

Take a kettle with 8 buckets water; put in it 2^ lbs. alum; dis- 
solve it; pour the solution into a pail ; cool it; add £ lb. acetate 
lead ; stir well ; put in 2 oz. chalk ; stir well again, and continue 
at intervals for 12 hours ; let it settle ; pour oft this liquor into a 
pail, without stirring up the sediment ; steep the silk in this ; 
work it well for six hours ; wring, and lay it by wet. Next take 
a kettle with 8 buckets water; put in it the quercitron; boil for 
£ of an hour; strain into the vat; steep the silk previously satu- 
rated in the above liquor into this ; work it well an hour ; rinse, 
wring, and dry it. For a higher colour, add 1 lb. more of quer- 
citron ; saturate the silk in the above liquor ; then boil in a kettle 
8 buckets water, with the 2 lbs. quercitron for | of an hour ; strain 
into a vat; steep the, silk; work it well 2 hours; wring, and dry 
it. Lastly, take another kettle with 8 buckets water; put in & 
lbs. more of quercitron; boil for £ of an hour; filter into a vat; 
work in the previously coloured and dried silk for 2 hours ; rinse, 
wring, and dry it. 

A high coloured, and deep citron yellow. Take 1| lbs. alum ; 
3 oz. acetate of lead; 1| oz. chalk, and 8 lbs. French berries. 

Dissolve, in a kettle of 8 buckets water, 1^ lbs. alum; pour 
the solution into a pail, or cask with a spiggot 6 inches from the 
bottom; let it cool ; put in it 3 oz. acetate lead ; stir well with a 
rake; add 1£ oz. pulv'd. chalk; stir the whole well every hour 
for 12 hours ; then take out the rake ; let the sediment subside for 
12 hours; then draw off the liquor, not disturbing the sediment, 
which otherwise would create stains difficult to remove ; pour this 
decanted liquor into a vat; work the silk well in it 4 hours; 
wring and dry it; after this, moisten it with warm water; rinse 
in a current ; wring, and lay it by wet. Lastly, take a kettle 
with 8 buckets water; bruise 8 lbs. Fr. berries in a mortar; put 
them in the kettle ; boil $ hour ; filter the liquor ; steep the silk 



DYEING. 355 

in it; work for £ hour; wring, and dry it. The liquor left 
will colour a brighter citron yellow ; the same may also be used 
with turmeric or weld, in dyeing- yellow. 

Nankeen. Take 2 lbs. powdered galls ; 1£ oz. annotto ; 4 oz. 
potash, and \ lb. soap. 

Put 1 lb. powdered galls in a kettle with 8 buckets water; 
boil 10 min.; strain the liquor into a pail ; let \ lb. soap dissolve 
in a bucket of warm water; pour it into the galls; put into a 
crock with water, 1 oz. annotto, and 4 oz. potash ; boil for \ an 
hour ; add to the half of it the galls liquor in the pail ; stir well ; 
steep the silk in it; work it well £ of an hour; if the silk be a 
proper redness, add such proportion of the annotto liquor as is 
necessary to give it the desired tint; put the silk in again; work 
it well \ of an hour: rinse, and dry it. The nankeen colour must 
not remain long without being rinsed, as this would create stains 
in it. 

A handsome Turkish blue. Take \\ lbs. alum; 2$ oz. 
cochineal; \ lb. composition; £ oz. indigo, and 3 oz. sulp. acid. 

The silk, being boiled in soap and water, must be rinsed in 
running water, wrung, and well beaten; then coloured to a hand- 
some light blue, in a cold or warm keep, rinsed in a stream, 
wrung, and dried. When dry, moisten it in warm water, wring 
it, and lay it by wet. Next, prepare a kettle with 8 buckets of 
water; dissolve in it \ lb. alum; pour it into a vat; steep the 
silk in it ; work it well for one hour ; wring, and lay it aside wet. 
Lastly, put in a kettle 8 buckets water; boil it ; put into it 2^ oz. 
cochineal ; boil for 10 min.; cool with a bucket water ; add £ lb. 
of the solution of tin, and £ oz. indigo, previously dissolved in 
3 oz. sulp. acid^ stir well; immerse the silk, coloured blue, in 
this coch. liquor ; work well till the liquor begins to boil ; let it 
boil another hour, working it all the time ; rinse ; wring, and 
dry it. If you desire a nearer approach to red, take more cochi- 
neal. 

A handsome green. Take 2 lbs. alum and 4 lbs. quercitron. 

Dissolve in 8 buckets water in a kettle 2 lbs. alum ; pour it 
into a tub ; previously to this, colour the silk, in a cold keep, a 
handsome light blue ; rinse in a stream ; wring ; steep the silk 
in the alum water; work well 2 hours; wring, and lay it by 
wet. Lastly, put 4 lbs. quercitron into a kettle with 8 buckets 
water ; boil well | hour ; filter into a tub ; prepare a mixture of 
indigo and sulph. acid, (nine parts acid to one of indigo, at 100° 
to 112° Fahr. ;) pour this into the quercitron liquor in the tub; 
stir well ; steep the silk ; work it well \ hour; wring, and dry 
it. If the colour requires, add a small quantity of turmeric to 
the yellow liquor. Let the silk not be coloured too dark in the 
cold keep ; as a handsome green is difficult to procure on a 
ground spoiled by keeping it in the dark. If the colour is 
light, it is easier regulating it in the final dye to the required 
shade. 



356 DYEING. 

Best blue, (ultra marine.) Put copper filings, free from 
alloy, into a glass vessel, with muriatic acid in double quantity. 
Let them stand 24 hours or so, till the mur. acid attain a blue or 
deep green colour. Pour off the clear spirit of salt (mur. acid) 
into another glass vessel, add fresh mur. acid to the copper filings, 
repeat the process until the filings are dissolved, leaving the resi- 
duum remaining. To these solutions together, add the spirits of 
ammonia to saturate the mixture. Then moisten the silk ip warm 
water, all its parts being equally soaked. Then wring it ; steep 
it in the above solution or mixture ; work it till it has attained the 
intended colour ; take it out ; wring it well ; rinse it in a stream ; 
and dry it in a shade. To the remaining liquor, add a small 
quantity of spirits of ammonia, and other handsome blues can 
be made. 

For a dark blue, take 1£ oz. indigo; | lb. oil of vitriol; 1£ 
lbs. alum ; 4 oz. logwood, and £ lb. of alum. 

Finely levigate and sift the 1^ oz. indigo; put | lb. of oil of 
vitriol in a stone jar, to which add the former. Stir well with a 
long, new pipe-stem, or such like thing, till the ferment ceases. 
Set it by for 24 hours ; then add a little water, and stir again ; 
after which, set it by till wanted. 

Next take a kettle with 8 buckets of water; put in it the 1} 
lbs. alum, and dissolve it completely. Then pour the solution 
set aside into a pail, steep the silk therein, working it well for 
an hour ; then take it out, wring, lay it by in a wet state for use. 

Put 8 buckets of water into a kettle ; pour the indigo solution 
into it ; mix by stirring ; put in the silk, stir it therein for an 
hour. Then rinse in running water, wring, and set it by wet. 
It is now a light blue colour. * 

To deepen it, or render it dark blue, take a kettle with 16 
buckets water, brought to a boil ; put therein 4 lbs. logwood, 
boil for | of an hour. Take half this liquor, and strain it into 
a tub ; put into this tub £ lb. alum, previously dissolved; stir 
well, and steep the light blue silk in it, working it well | of 
an hour. Take it out, wring, and keep it in a wet state. Throw 
away the liquor in the tub. 

Lastly, pour into another vat the remaining 8 buckets left in 
the kettle; run it through a sieve ; steep the silk in the liquor, 
and work it well for £ an hour. Then take it out, rinse it in a 
stream, wring, and dry it. 

A violet blue, after the manner of the foregoing. Take 1 oz. 
indigo; £ lb. oil vitriol ; £ lb. alum ; 4 lbs. logwood, and 1 lb. 
Guinea or red wood. 

The indigo must be dissolved in the oil of vitriol, as in the 
foregoing receipt, and kept ready for use ; then dissolve in a 
kettle of 8 buckets of water, 1£ lbs. alum, pour the solution into 
a tub, work the silk well one hour, take it out, wring it, and keep 
it wet. Next, fill a vat with 8 buckets of water ; pour into this 
the above solution of indigo, stir well, work the alum-dressed 



DYEING. 357 

silk therein $ an hour, take it out, rinse in running water, wring, 
and set it by in a wet state. Lastly, put 8 buckets of water into a 
kettle with 4 lbs. logwood and 1 lb. of Guinea or red wood. Boil 
the whole well for | of an hour, run this decoction through a 
sieve into a vat, steep the blue coloured silk in it; work well for 
£ an hour, then rinse in running water, and dry. 

A deep red. Take 5 oz. annotto ; 1 lb. potash ; 2 \ lbs. alum ; 
and 5 lbs. madder. 

Into a kettle with 8 buckets water, put 5 lbs. madder finely 
powdered ; add 1 lb. potash ; boil \ hour ; filter this into a tub ; 
steep the silk in it; work well an hour; rinse, and dry it; dis- 
solve 2^ lbs. alum in a kettle, which pour into a vat ; steep the 
silk in it; work it well 2 hours ; wring, and dry it. Lastly, put 
8 buckets water into a kettle; add 5 lbs madder; heat it, but do 
not let it boil ; steep the silk (first in warm water, to saturate, 
and wring it out) in the above lukewarm madder liquor ; work 
it well till it begins to boil ; let it boil £ hour longer, working it 
continually ; wring, and dry it. 

A green. Take 1$ lbs. alum; 1 lb. potash, and 8 lbs. tur- 
meric. 

The silk must be first dyed in a cold keep to a handsome light 
blue ; the colour laid cautiously throughout „• rinse in a stream ; 
wring, and lay it by wet, Immerse the silk next in warm water; 
let it be equally saturated; wring, and lay it aside wet. Next, pre- 
pare a kettle with 8 buckets water ; put in 1 lb. potash and 1£ 
lbs. turmeric : boil them well for 10 minutes; filter into a vat; 
steep the silk in this liquor ; work it well £ an hour ; wring, and 
put it by wet. Lastly, put 8 buckets water into a kettle ; add to 
them 1^ lbs. alum; dissolve it; pour the solution into a tub; 
work well £ hour ; rinse, wring, and dry in the shade. 



CONCLUSION. 

Statistics relative to silk, are far from being- brought to that 
state to which, by experimentalists, they questionless should be, 
for the explicit and definite guidance of the young culturist. Few, 
if any, have aimed at a mean, or a well defined average, as the 
unit of calculation, throughout the entire volume of manipulation, 
from the mulberry seed, or egg of the silk worm to the cocoon; 
or, rather, to the pound of silk, the yard of fabric, or even to the 
amount passed to the credit of each that shares in the division of 
labour in this important order of national industry. In all thing's 
relative to one genus or species, notwithstanding varieties, or 
deviations occasioned by contingency, an average, as before ob- 
served, does and must exist, however confused views and vacillat- 
ing practices, a sort of navigation that never dreamt of polarity, 
may determine to the contrary. Instead of establishing this unit, 
or common measure, examples are given from all the varieties of 
the mulberry, species of the silk worm, and methods of treatment ; 
and to increase this vibration from right to left of a right line, 
whatever that line be, ratios are given, without reduction, from 
the pounds and ounces of different European countries, which 
vary one from the other, as much as the pound avoirdupois does 
from the pound troy. The consequence of all this is, that dis- 
crepancy is frequently made to appear, where real agreement ex- 
ists; or the latter has been supposed, whilst the former has been 
concealed. 

No writer has exemplified a course of treatment, which can, 
with greater safety be referred to, as the unit in this respect, or 
standard to which all may attain, than the Count of Varese. 
Though in the appendix, a Milan pound of 12 ounces is adverted 
to, yet in the body of the work, it is evident that the count is 
conducting his calculations, by the poids de marc of Char- 
lemagne; a pound of 16 ounces, each of 576 grains ; one of which 
being equal to '8203 of an English grain, the whole pound was 
equal to 7561 English grains.* Now, it is of this pound he is 
speaking, when he informs us that 240 of his cocoons, from the 
common worms of 4 moultings, weighed 1 lb. And as the Eng- 
lish avoirdupois pound is equal to 7,000 grains troy, it must fol- 
low, that such was the excellency of his feeding and management, 
and therefore his cocoons so heavy, that it required only 222 of 

* We have only to refer to page 338 to be satisfied that he calculates 
by an ounce of 576 grains, and to page 336 to be assured that the pound 
to which he constantly refers, is one of 16 ounces: i. e. 9,216 grains 
equal to 7,561 English troy grains. 

358 



CONCLUSION. 359 

them to weigh a pound avoirdupois ; a result similar to this, is 
precisely such, as under similar circumstances, we should have 
expected. 

Number of cocoons to the pound avoirdupois. We are fully 
aware of the widely discrepant quotations on this subject by 
different writers, not having a standard of any kind whatever in 
view ; which, therefore, range at all ratios from 160 to 600, and 
even upwards, to the pound. In proportion precisely as we 
neglect or starve the insect we shall diminish the cocoon ; and it 
remains to be shown, that Americans, if only they have the en- 
thusiasm of the Italian prototype, cannot come so near to the 
standard as to raise cocoons of such excellency that 250 shall 
be equal to 1 lb. avoirdupois. "When this can be demonstrated 
in the affirmative, on the possibility of which, with the condition 
specified, we have no doubt; we shall not hesitate to say, that 
250 cocoons to the pound, are the standard, the unit of calcula- 
tion, of the medium circumstances we contemplate. Rejecting 
examples of extraordinary deviations, either from the species of 
insect employed or negligence of treatment, the mean of the 14 
examples quoted in the subjoined note,* not of this character, i3 
245 cocoons to the pound avoirdupois ; affording sufficient pre- 
sumption, that under circumstances already specified, especially 
with the aid of the multicaulis tree, the careful culturist will 
realize cocoons of 250 to the pound. And with this evidence be- 
fore us, we are inclinable to add, that in every case, where more 
cocoons of the common worms are requisite to weigh one pound ; 
the only allowable inference is, that the feeding and treatment 
have not been equal to what were exemplified at Varese. 

Pounds of cocoons to the pound of silk. On this subject we have 
taken the trouble not only to collect 30 examples from the most 
respectable authorities, but also to reduce them, as in the sub- 
joined note,f to a common ratio. The result, or the average 
of these 30 examples is, that it requires 9 lbs. 4f oz. of cocoons 
to yield 1 lb. of reeled silk. It will be seen by reference to the 
note, that the minimum quantity yielding 1 lb. of reeled silk is 
5 lbs., the maximum 13 lbs. 10 oz : 10 examples of the 30 were 
each 8 lbs., and only 3 examples below 8 lbs.; 4 examples be- 
tween 8 and 9 lbs.; one of 9 lbs.; one 9| lbs.; 3 of 10 lbs., and 7 

* 222,Dandolo; 200, in Georgia; 160, A. Benjamin; 300, Roberts; 
300, Cheney ; 306, Busti; 337, d'Homergue; 250, Kenrick; 256, Pul- 
lein; 240, Judge Bry; 206, Mrs. Davenport; 206, Silk Culturist; 239, 
Bonafoux ; 206, Stevenson. 

j- Two examples of only 5 lbs. each; one of 7 lbs. 8 oz.; 10 of 8 lbs. 
each ; 8£ lbs.; 8 7 % lbs.; 8^ lbs.; 8f lbs.; 9 lbs.; 9£ lbs.; 3 of 10 lbs. each ; 
1 1 lbs.; 4 of 1 2 lbs.; 12$ lbs.; 13^ lbs.; 13f lbs. Authorities ; Dandolo, 
De Hazzi, Bonafoux, Congressional Report, Dr. Lardner, Cobb, Kenrick, 
Roberts, Silk Culturist, Fessenden, Stevenson, Busti, Davenport, Murray, 
Transac. Am. Phil. Soc. 



360 



CONCLUSION. 



exceeding 10 lbs. The arithmetical average 9 lbs. 4£ oz. We, 
therefore, are fully warranted in stating- 10 lbs. of cocoons to 1 lb. 
of reeled silk, as the whole number unit of calculation at this stage 
of our statistical investigation. And as 250 cocoons have been, 
under the conditions specified, taken as the number weighing 1 
lb.; it must follow, on the same condition, that 2,500 such cocoons 
will yield 1 lb. of reeled silk ; which is equivalent to a requirement 
of 2,500 worms that shall survive from the egg to the cocoon . to pro- 
duce 1 lb. of reeled silk. Again, as of the 36,244 eggs that weigh 
one ounce avoirdupois, (see page 293,) 26,650, with Dandolo's 
care, are supposed to survive. From every ounce of silk worm 
eggs, therefore, at the same rate of treatment, we may expect 106 
lbs. 9 oz. of cocoons, or 10 lbs. 10^ oz. of reeled silk. Hence, 
we may derive the following table of the proportionality that 
practically may exist between from 1 ounce to 40 ounces of eggs, 
or to more than a million of surviving worms, and their product 
in the weight of cocoons and of reeled silk. 



Ounces 
of 

Eggs. 


Worms surviv- 
ing to the 
Cocood. 


Weight 

Cocoons. 


Weight 
Reeled Silk. 


1 


26650 


lbs. 

106 


oz. 

9 


lbs. 

10 


02. 

10£ 


2 


53300 


213 


2 


21 


5 


3 


79950 


319 


11 


31 


15£ 


4 


106600 


426 


4 


42 


10 


5 


133250 


532 


13 


53 


H 


10 


266500 


1065 


10 


106 


9 


20 


533000 


2031 


4 


213 


2 


30 


799500 


3196 


14 


319 


11 


40 


1066000 


4262 


8 


426 


4 



From these data, it must necessarily follow, that an average 
cocoon will weigh 7 ^°, or 28 grain?, and will contain fMg, 2| 
grains of silk. Relative to the length of fibre contained in a 
cocoon, quotations vary commonly from 300 to to 800 yards ; but 
Count Dandolo will give us example of those whose fibre exceeds 
half a mile, and in one case (p. 331) of cocoons, whose fibre is 
each equal to 1295 yards, or nearly three quarters of a mile ! Of 
each cocoon, the proportion of silk that can be reeled to the floss 



CONCLUSION. 



361 



that can only be spun, is, by the most reputable authorities, 
quoted as 19 to'l. One pound of reeled silk is ordinarily manu- 
factured into 16 to 19 yards of the silk called gros de Naples, 
which, at average prices, is worth from $10 to $14: i. e. $5 for 
the raw material, and from $5 to $9 for the manufacture per 
pound. Different authors give from 300 to 600 as the number of 
eggs laid by each female moth. Dandolo quotes 510 ; conse- 
quently, about 78 female moths, or 156 moths of both sexes, are 
requisite to the production of one ounce of eggs. 

Feeding statistics. We have yet three important inquiries 
before us. In order to obtain any quantity of reeled silk, from 
10 lbs. to 400 lbs. and upwards, or the silk yielded by the worms 
surviving from 1 ounce of eggs to 40. 1st, what will be the 
weight of leaves requisite in each of those cases ? 2dly, the 
extent of land necessary for their growth ? and, 3dly, the average 
nett profit on each acre employed in the production of silk? 

1st. On accounting for the different number of worms for 
which the Counts de Hazzi, Dandolo, and M. Bonafoux, calcu- 
late, and the difference between the weights of Bavaria and Mi- 
lan, we shall find a striking agreement between them relative to 
the quantity of leaves requisite, during each of the ages of the 
silk worm, respectively. The calculation of Dandolo was for 
144,000, or the worms surviving to the cocoon of 5 oz. of eggs, 
as is stated below. 



For five ounces of eggs. 


For one ounce. 


Ages. 


Of sorted 
leaves. 


Refuse. 


In all. 


In all. 


1 


lbs. oz. 

30 


lbs. oz. 
4 8 


lbs. oz. 

34 8 


lbs. oz. 

6 141 


2 


90 


15 


105 


21 


3 


300 


45 


345 


69 


4 


900 


135 


1035 0] 207 


5 


5490 


510 


6000 01200 

i 


Total. 


6810 


709 8 


7519 81503 14| 



For the maintenance, then, of 144,000 surviving worms, or 
the worms surviving from 5 ounces, equivalent to 576 English 
pounds of cocoons, or 57 lbs. 9f oz. of reeled silk, 7519 lbs. 
8 oz. of the white mulberry leaf must be taken from the trees ; 
and as the pound used in Dandolo's statistics was equal to 
7561 English grains, and our avoirdupois pound to 7000 grains, 

31 



362 CONCLUSION. 

it is evident that his 7519 lbs. 8 oz. of leaves are equal to 8123 
lbs. nearly of leaves, according to our pound avoirdupois ; for 
which he obtained 600 lbs. of cocoons; and since he informs us, 
that "in the year 1814, which was unfavourable, my cocoons 
yielded me about 15 ounces of very fine silk from 7^ lbs. of 
cocoons." We have evidence that he obtained 75 lbs., equal to 
81 lbs. of our weight, from 600 Milanese pounds of cocoons ; 
which is at the rate of 100 lbs. of white mulberry leaves nearly, 
( 8 |f 3 ,) for every pound of reeled silk; to which, according to the 
evidence before us, 80 lbs. of multicaulis leaves are equal, on ac- 
count of the greater quantity of nutritive matter, and less of 
refuse, in each pound of the latter. Hence, at this rate, 6498 lbs. 
avoirdupois of multicaulis leaves are sufficient to rear the w T orms 
proceeding from 5 ounces of eggs, or to the production of 81 lbs. 
of silk, at the rate of culture accomplished by the vigilance and 
care of Dandolo during an unfavourable year. This is at the 
rate of 1300 lbs. nearly of multicaulis leaves for every ounce of 
eggs ; or of 45 lbs. of multicaulis leaves for every 1000 worms. 

Hence, the weight of multicaulis leaves requisite for the 
worms that may, and should, with successful treatment, proceed 
from one ounce, is equal to 1300 lbs.; from 2 ounces, 2600 
lbs. ; from 3 ounces, 3900 lbs. ; from 4 ounces, 5200 lbs. ; from 
5 ounces, 6500 lbs. ; from 10 ounces, 13000 lbs. ; from 20 ounces, 
26000 lbs. ; from 30 ounces, 39000 lbs. ; and from 40 ounces, 
52000 lbs. 

At page 221 and 222, we have not calculated on more than 6| 
lbs. of leaves from 1 multicaulis plant of the third year's growth. 
Mr. Roberts, in the last edition of his manual, allows 15 lbs. for the 
foliage of the multicaulis of the 3d year, and 16 lbs. for its 4th year; 
and as by planting 8 feet asunder in the rows, and 1^ feet from 
tree to tree in each row, 3630 trees may be planted in one acre, 
which, at the ratio specified by Mr. Roberts, would yield 58080 
lbs. of leaves, more.than sufficient for the feeding of 1,000,000 
surviving worms, which, at 2500 cocoons to the lb. of reeled 
silk, are equal to 400 lbs., that, at $4 per lb. would yield 
$1600 per acre. 

The particulars of the expense of cultivating this acre, and 
for feeding the 1,000,000 worms, &c, he estimates as follows : 
" Interest on 1 acre of land, valued at $20, at 6 per cent, is 
$1 20; manure for ditto $20 00; ploughing and harrowing, 
$5 00 ; wages of one woman for 6 weeks, at $3 per month, 
$4 50 ; board for ditto, at $2 per week, $12 ; wages of one 
woman for 5 weeks, at $3 per month, $3 75 ; board for ditto, at 
$2 per week, $10 ; wages of 5 children, from 7 to 10 years of age, 
for 4 weeks, at$l per week each, $20 ; board of ditto, 4 weeks, at 
$1 50 per week each, $30 ; expense of reeling silk, $50 ; inte- 
rest in cost of the cocoonery, $48 ; or expenses in all, $204 85. 
Which, deducted from the $1600 stated above, would leave the 



conclusion. 363 

nett profit of $1395 14 per acre. We hope that Mr. Roberts' 
results will be realized. He has taken 16 lbs. for the yield in 
foliage or the multicaulis on the 4th year. We have taken not 
more than about half of this ; and if the half of this profit per acre 
or $697, or even $500 per acre be obtained, it will certainly be' 
considerably more than can be realized from one acre, by any 
other species of crop whatever, now in cultivation, or which can 
be generally available 



MULBERRY TREES AND SILK. 



THE MORODENDRON SILK COMPANY, 

OF PHILADELPHIA; 

Chartered by the State of Pennsylvania, for the raising of the Mulberry 
Tree, and the Production and Manufacture of Silk. 

This Company, whose Silk Farm and Cocooneries are situated 
on the Philadelphia and Wilmington Rail Road, in the imme- 
diate vicinity of Philadelphia, is prepared to receive orders for 
the Morus Multicaulis mulberry tree ; also, for silk worms' 
eggs of the most approved quality, and in quantity equal to the 
demands of the market, in lots to suit farmers or companies, on 
the most accommodating terms. Every thing sold by this com- 
pany will be warranted genuine and in good condition, and will 
be forwarded, per order, to any part of the country. 

The mulberry trees of the Morodendron Silk Company, are 
produced from the best stock in the country, and are acclimated 
and hardy to stand the winter. They have neither been produced 
from trees imported nor raised in hot-houses, but are warranted 
among the most healthy and vigorous on this continent. They 
have also taken the, utmost care, in the selection of their eggs, 
to preserve the stock of the very first quality. Farmers, there- 
fore, before purchasing, will do well to call on the Actuary in 
this city, who will furnish them with every thing wanted to 
make a safe and sure commencement in the silk culture. 

All orders, addressed to John Clarke, Superintendent of the 
Morodendron Siffc Company, Philadelphia, will receive prompt 
attention. 

Q^r 3 Mr. Clarke proposes to receive on commission, and keep 
constantly on hand, for sale, all kinds of materials necessary for 
the supply of farmers, planters, and gentlemen who may be de- 
sirous of entering into the silk culture, such as Reels, Spinners, 
Throwsters, and all the usual furniture of a cocoonery. 

Office, No. 8 North Ninth Street, Philadelphia. 

364 



THOMAS, COWPERTHWAIT & CO., 

PUBLISHERS AND BOOKSELLERS, PHILADELPHIA, 

WILL PUBLISH ABOUT THE FIRST OF JANUARY, 1839, 

MITCHELL'S SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY, 

ACCOMPANIED BY 

AN ATLAS OP SIXTEEN MAPS. 



The author, Mr. S. Augustus Mitchell, is favourably known to the public, 
having for a number of years past devoted his attention to the compiling and pub- 
lishing of Geographical Works and Maps. The knowledge he has acquired in the 
prosecution of this business, has induced many of his friends, teachers in different 
parts of the country, to direct his attention to the present work, persuaded that he 
could prepare one suited to their views, and calculated to facilitate the progress of 
their pupils. 

Geography forms at present an essential branch of elementary education, and is 
well calculated to awaken and cherish that spirit of curiosity and inquiry which is 
so natural to the youthful mind. On its value it would be needless to expatiate, 
and its proper regulation being calculated to open the way to more important stu- 
dies, is not unworthy the illustration of mature and cultivated minds. 

Within the last twelve or fifteen years the great attention paid to Geography in 
our principal schools and seminaries, has been the means of producing several 
meritorious works on this subject. They have their respective peculiarities and ex- 
cellencies, and are mostly well calculated to aid the scholar in his progress towards 
acquiring a competent knowledge of that interesting science. They ought not, 
however, to be regarded as superseding all further endeavours in this department 
of usefulness, or as discouraging any well-intended efforts of others to do good in a 
similar way. 

To most of the works in question the objection attaches of failing to represent 
the world as it is at the present day. Perhaps not one of them (though editions for 
1838 are before the public,) exhibit even our own country according to its actual 
divisions. The same objection exists in relation to South America and some other 
quarters of the world, where important States are neither mentioned in the Geo- 
graphies nor delineated in the Maps. 

To obviate these omissions the author of this School Geography has endeavoured 
to describe in the Work and delineate in the Maps composing the Mlas, such a re- 
presentation of the principal States in the world, as the plan prescribed for the one 
and the scale of the other would permit, to their fullest extent. 

The preliminary part of the work, or the description of the definitions, will be 
found perhaps as simple and easy of comprehension as can well be obtained. It is 
arranged chiefly in the method of question and answer, yet presenting, it is believed, 
sufficient scope to exercise the mental faculties of the pupil. 

The Pictorial Illustrations will comprise from one hundred and fifty to two hundred 
Engravings, chiefly from original designs, and engraved by the best artists in the 
country. Some of these will embrace a number of the leading objects of nature 
and art, and others will illustrate, in an appropriate manner, important facts stated 
in the body of the work. They are not introduced for mere ornament, but are de- 
signed to convey information by visible images, the most forcible of all language. 

The Maps composing the Atlas are from original drawings, and engraved in the 
neat and distinct manner for which Mr. Mitchell's Maps have been distinguished : 
this is a subject of considerable importance to both teacher and scholar. Some 
very good maps found in atlasses accompanying school geographies are engraved 
in a manner so slovenly and indistinct, that it is often difficult to distinguish the 
names of places ; others are printed on paper so ill calculated for the purpose, that 
the atlas falls to pieces in a short time, 'it is believed that the great majority of 
teachers are well aware of this fact, it being frequently complained of. These ob- 
jections the publishers will obviate to the utmost extent that the plan prescribed 
for this work will permit. 

The Atlas will contain the following Maps.- 

The World on the Globular Projection —The World on the Polar Projection — 

North America — The United States — The Eastern States — The Middle States — 

The Southern States — The Western States — Mexico and Guatemala — Soutty 

America — Europe — Asia — Africa — Oceana — Palestine — Liberia. 



VALUABLE SCHOOL BOOKS, 

PUBLISHED BY 

THOMAS, COWPERTHWAIT & Co., 

PHILADELPHIA, 

AND FOR SALE BY BOOKSELLERS GENERALLY. 



PARLEY'S COLUMBUS — The Life of Christopher Columbus; illus- 
trated by Tales, Sketches, and Anecdotes. Adapted to the use of Schools, with 
Questions for examination, and numerous Engravings. 

PARLEY'S WASHINGTON.— The Life of Gen. George Washing- 
ton ; illustrated by Tales, Sketches, and Anecdotes. Adapted to the use of Schools, 
with Questions for examination, and numerous Engravings. 

PARLEY'S FRANKLIN.— The Life of Benjamin Franklin; illus- 
trated by Tales, Sketches, and Anecdotes. Adapted to the use of Schools, with 
Questions for examination, and numerous Engravings. 

There are few such lives as those of Columbus, Washington, and Franklin, in the 
annals of any nation ; and none better calculated for the study of youth. 

PARLEY'S FIRST BOOK OF HISTORY.— The First History, 
for Children and Youth; by the Author of Peter Parley's Tales. With sixty En- 
gravings. 

PARLEY'S SECOND BOOK OF HISTORY. — The Second 
Book of History, including the modern History of Europe, Africa, and Asia ; illus- 
trated by Engravings and sixteen Maps, and designed as a sequel to the " First 
Book of History." By the Author of Peter Parley's Tales. 

PARLEY'S THIRD BOOK OF HISTORY.— The Third Book 
of History, containing Ancient History, in connexion with Ancient Geography ; 
with numerous Engravings. Designed as a sequel to the First and Second Books 
of History. 

PETER PARLEY'S GEOGRAPHY, With numerous Engravings. 

PETER PARLEY'S ARITHMETIC, " " 

FROST'S UNITED STATES.— History of the United States ; for the 
use of Schools and Academies. By John Frost. Illustrated with forty engravings. 
—The design of the author in this his larger history, has been to furnish a text book 
full and complete enough for the use of colleges, academies, and the higher semina- 
ries. The numerous testimonials to the merit of this work, and its popularity 
evinced quite unequivocally by the sale of ten thousand copies within a few months 
after its first publication, afford a strong presumption that the author has succeeded 
in his purpose, of making it a first-rate school history. 

Philadelphia, Oct. 1836. 
This history of the United States is, in our opinion, more full and more exact 
than any of the same size, and in all other respects preferable, as a book intended 
to aid the business of instruction. 

WILLIAM RUSSELL, JOSEPH MOONEY, 

G. J. HOPPER, JOSEPH CHAMBERLAIN, 

RUFUS LOCKWOOD, MYRON BEARDSLEY, 

ROYAL MANN, WILLIAM H. WYCKOFF, 

JOHN OAKLEY, THEODORE W. PORTER, 

HENRY SWORDS, C. C. JENNTNGS, 

GEORGE INGRAM, ROBERT J. FURNEY, 

JOHN C. TREADWELL, AARON RAND, 
JOSEPH M'KEEN, EDMUND D. BARRY, D.D., 

F. S. WORTH, SAMUEL GARDNER, 

WILLIAM FORREST, D. STEVENS, 

F. A. STREETER, SAMUEL BROWN, 

JAMES LAWSON, JOSEPH M. ELY, 

DAVID SCHOYER. P. PERRTNE, 

SOLOMON JENNER, SAMUEL RICHARDS. 

C. WM. NICHOLS, 



SCHOOL BOOKS PUBLISHED BY THOMAS, COWPERTHWAIT, & CO. 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES, FOR THE USE 

OF COMMON SCHOOLS By John Frost, author of History of the 

United States for the use of Schools and Academies. This work is condensed from 
the author's larger history of the United States. In reducing the quantity of mat- 
ter to such a compass, as will place the volume within the reach of the common 
schools, no pains have been spared to preserve all that is essential to a clear and 
comprehensive history of the country. 

FROST'S AMERICAN SPEAKER.— The American SpeaL , com- 
prising a Comprehensive Treatise on Elocution, and an extensive Selection of 
Specimens of American and Foreign Eloquence. Embellished with engraved por- 
traits of distinguished American orators, on steel. By J. Frost, author of History 
of the United States. 

PINNOCK'S ENGLAND.— Pinnock's improved edition of Dr. Gold- 
smith's History of England, from the invasion of Julius Caesar to the death of 
George II., with a continuation to the year 1838. Illustrated with 30 engravings on 
wood. Corrected and revised from the twenty-fourth English edition. 

PINNOCK'S GREECE, — Pinnock's improved edition of Dr. Gold- 
smith's History of Greece. Revised, corrected, and very considerably enlarged, by 
the addition of several new chapters and numerous useful notes; with questions 
for examination at the end of each section ; with 30 engravings, by Atherton. 

PINNOCK'S ROME.— Pinnock's improved edition of Dr. Goldsmith's 
History of Rome ; to which is prefixed an Introduction to the Study of Roman 
History, and a great variety of information throughout the work, on the manners, 
institutions, and antiquities of the Romans ; with questions for examination at 
the end of each section ; with 30 engravings, by Atherton. 

THE COLUMBIAN ORATOR.— Containing a variety of original 
and selected pieces, together with rules calculated to improve youth and others in 
the ornamental and useful art of Eloquence. By Caleb Bingham, A. M., Author of 
the American Preceptor, Young Lady's Accidence, &c. 

DAVIES' ARITHMETIC — The Common-school Arithmetic; pre- 
pared for the use of Academies and Common-schools in the United States. By 
Charles Davies, Professor of Mathematics in the Military Academy at West Point. 

RUDDIMAN'S RUDIMENTS OF THE LATIN TONGUE, 

new and improved edition, with notes, by William Mann, A. M. 

PIERPONT'S AMERICAN FIRST CLASS BOOK. 
NATIONAL READER. 
INTRODUCTION TO DO. 

YOUNG READER. 
PARLEY'S AMERICA, new and revised edition. 
EUROPE, " " 
ASIA, " " 

AFRICA, " " 
ISLANDS, " " 
TALES OF THE SEA, 
ROME, " " 

GREECE, " " 
WINTER EVENING TALES, 
JUVENILE TALES, " 
ANECDOTES, " 
SUN, MOON AND STARS, 

FOUR QUARTERS — comprising America, Europe, 
Asia, and Africa. In 1 volume. 

TOGETHER WITH A GENERAL ASSORTMENT OF 

SCHOOL BOOKS. 



SCHOOL BOOKS PUBLISHED BY THOMAS, COWPERTHWAIT, & CO. 

CLARK'S CiESAR.— " C. Julii Cassaris Quae extant Interpretations et 
notis. Illustravit Johannus Godvinus, Professor Regius in Usum delphini."— The 
notes and interpretations translated and improved by Thomas Clark. A new stere- 
otype edition, carefully corrected by comparison with a standard London edition, 
and containing various emendations in the notes. By William Mann, A. M. 

GOLDSMITH'S NATURAL HISTORY.— Abridged for the use of 

Schools, by Mrs. Pilkington. Revised and corrected by a teacher of Philadelphia, 
with Questions. New edition ; illustrated with upwards of 100 new and handsome 
engravings. 

GUY ON ASTRONOMY, AND KEITH ON THE GLOBES. 

BRIDGE'S ALGEBRA. 

AINSWORTH'S LATIN DICTIONARY.— A new abridgment of 
Ainsworth's Dictionary, Knglish and Latin, for the use of Grammar Schools.— Into 
this edition are introduced several alterations and improvements for the special 
purpose of facilitating the labour and increasing the knowledge of the young scholar. 
By John Dymock, LL. D. A new American edition, with corrections and im- 
provements, by Charles Anthon Jay, Professor of Languages in Columbia College, 
New York, and Rector of the Grammar School. 

MANUAL OF CLASSICAL LITER ATURE.— From the German 
of J. J. Eschenburg, Professor in the Carolinum at New Brunswick. Second edi- 
tion. With additions. By N. W. Fiske, Professor of Moral and Intellectual Phi- 
losophy, (lately of the Latin and Greek Languages,) in Amherst College. 

CLASSICAL ANTIQUITIES.— Being part of the Manual of Classical 
Literature from the German of J. J. Eschenburg, Professor in the Carolinum at 
Brunswick; with additions by| N. W. Fiske, Professor of Moral and Intellectual 
Philosophy in Amherst College. 

SIMSON'S EUCLID.— The Elements of Euclid, viz. the first six books 
together with the eleventh and twelfth. The errors by which Theon, or others, 
have long ago vitiated these books are corrected, and some of Euclid's demonstra- 
tions are restored. Also the book of Euclid's Data, in like manner corrected. By 
Robert Simson, M. D. Emeritus, Professor of Mathematics in the University of 
Glasgow. To this edition are also annexed Elements of Plane and Spherical Trigo- 
nometry. 

ROSS'S LATIN GRAUOIAR.-A short, plain, comprehensive, prac- 
tical Latin Grammar, comprising all the rules and observations necessary to an 
accurate knowledge of the Latin Classics, having the signs of quantity affixed to 
certain syllables, to show their right pronunciation, with an Alphabetical Vocabu- 
lary. The ninth edition, revised and improved. 

ART OF FLOWER PAINTING.— A series of Progressive Lessons 
intended to elucidate the Art of Flower Painting in Water colours, with several 
aquatinted illustrations, 1 vol. 4to. 



Thomas, Cowperthwait & Co. have also become the Publishers of 

MITCHELL'S POCKET MAPS. 

All of which have been corrected and improved, and they otfer them to the trade, 
neatly done up in morocco, on liberal terau. The following is a list of the various 
maps : . 

American Traveller— Map of the United States, showing the Canals and Rail 
Roads, with descriptions of the same— Map of the United States, royal sheet, 
mounted on rollers— Mitchell's Traveller's Guide— Map of Maine, New-Hampshire, 
and Vermont— Map of Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island— Map of New- 
York— Map of Pennsylvania, New-Jersey, and Delaware— Map of Virginia and 
Maryland— Map of North ,nd South Carolina and Georgia— Map of Louisiana, 
Mississippi and Alabama— M. i of Kentucky and Tennessee— Map of Missouri and 
Arkansas— Map of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan— Map of Wisconsin— Map 
of Florida and West Indies— Map of Europe— Map of the United States— Map of 
Pennsylvania— Map of Ohio-Map of Indiana— Map of Illinois— Map of Tennessee 
—Map of Kentucky— Map of Virginia— Map of South Carolina— Map of Georgia- 
Map of Michigan— Map of Arkansas— Map of Texas— Map of New- Jersey— Map of 
North America— Map of South America. 






